Morgan Group, Asia-Pacific Branch.
"Lucas, the liaison for AW, also my friend, Karl, will be here soon."
In the office, Yu Qin rarely showed a smile as she spoke to Lucas.
Lucas raised an eyebrow, "AW operates more efficiently than I had imagined."
"I’m not sure about others, but this Karl is definitely the king of efficiency." Karl had not yet arrived, but Yu Qin highly praised him already.
"Very good, very good."
Lucas nodded appreciatively, then changed the subject, "I’ve also gathered some information on AW; do you want to take a look?"
Yu Qin frowned slightly in confusion, "Information about AW?"
By this time, it had been two days since Lin Chuan and Leo had signed the contract.
During these two days, she had found new technology patents for Yu Keke, deliberately avoiding weapons patents.
—Having read Lin Chuan’s "Arms Tycoon," she chose industrial technology patents to avoid coincidentally running into Lin Chuan again.
Now, Yu Qin was focusing her energy on the collaboration with AW and the weapons trade with Baisheng Company.
Of course, actions aimed against Lin Chuan had not stopped for a moment.
Lucas nodded, picked up a small remote control, turned on the screen in the office, and displayed some of the information he had found about AW.
Major incident—in mid-April, AW received a counterattack from Han River Network, the computers used for the attack all displayed bright red flags.
The scene was like being occupied by enemies!
Yu Qin furrowed her brow.
She had heard some of this incident from Karl, but Karl, being an important figure inside AW, wouldn’t reveal too much to her.
She also knew being counterattacked wasn’t something to be proud of.
So she didn’t ask further.
Now that Lucas was bringing up this incident, she was somewhat surprised, "This incident has already been banned from discussion within AW; why are you looking into this? What for?"
Lucas shook his head, a confident expression on his face, "Yu, if it were your sister, she would immediately spot the coincidence in it."
"Coincidence?"
Yu Qin frowned deeply, confused.
Lucas controlled the electronic screen and switched to another scene.
On the screen, there was a snippet of text—
’I am a hacker.’
’A person who lurks in the shadows, unseen.’
’I have faced countless top hackers from abroad, and they have all become my subordinates, without exception.’
’In the virtual network, I am the absolute king!’
’Numerous people have tried to challenge my position, all have ended in failure.’
’I stand at the pinnacle of the network, overseeing my Hacker Kingdom.’
’There, it is full of bright red flags.’
’Bilowing in the wind.’
After reading this passage, Yu Qin was still puzzled, "Lucas, do these lines have much to do with the AW incident?"
"Did you notice any similarities?" Lucas asked in return.
"Red flags, and then?"
Lucas smiled, shifted the seat beside him, and sat down confidently, "This long text is excerpted from Lin Chuan’s novel, ’Hacker Kingdom’."
"Ah?"
Currently, Yu Qin had only read Lin Chuan’s "Arms Tycoon" and had just heard of his "Hacker Kingdom," but she hadn’t looked into it yet.
Now that Lucas was pointing it out separately, it clearly had significant implications.
"You’re saying Lin Chuan is the mysterious person who disrupted AW’s plans?" Yu Qin furrowed her eyebrows tightly and asked.
Lucas gently swayed the chair beneath him and didn’t directly answer her question.
Instead, he picked up the handy controller, pressed the electronic screen again, and listed several more messages.
"In late April, 720 Network Security Company was established."
"That same month, 720 Network Security Company reached a collaboration with Anling Police, and led the development of an anti-fraud app with several large local network security companies."
"Mr. Lin has a close relationship with Xia Qingqing from the Anling Network Supervision Team, traveling together to Yundian."
These pieces of information related to Lin Chuan, 720 Network Security Company, and Xia Qingqing were displayed, and Lucas wore a smile.
This investigation seemed to prove to Yu Qin that the hacker team he led was indeed capable!
—Truly skilled!
Yu Qin looked sideways, slightly surprised at Lucas, "Linking these two pieces of information together, it indeed seems likely!"
"It’s not just seeming likely!"
Lucas objected directly, "Lin Chuan has such a close relationship with the Anling Network Supervision Team, and still maintains cooperation with them; the bright red flags in the AW incident, and his usage of the same method in his novel ’Hacker Kingdom’, I believe, within Han River Province, only Lin Chuan alone could have single-handedly countered AW."
Sss—
Yu Qin took a deep breath, her lips slightly downturned, pursed.
In her mind, she quickly processed the information provided by Lucas.
That is to say, it was very likely that Lin Chuan had already crossed paths with AW and had disrupted their operation, making AW the laughingstock of the hacker community for a long time.
With that thought.
Yu Qin’s lips curled into a slight smile, "I think, I’ve found that knife!"
"This knife is extremely sharp."
Lucas laughed heartily, agreeing.
"I believe, my friend Karl will also be happy to join us in this battle, or rather, he might be eager to make a move against Lin Chuan!" Yu Qin’s lips curled up, a murderous glint flashing in her eyes.
Before long.
Yu Qin’s friend, an important figure in AW, Karl, had arrived.
"My friend, long time no see."
Yu Qin had already swept away the gloom of the past few days and greeted Karl warmly.
Karl was a man in his thirties, wearing a suit, looking young for his age, about 180 cm tall, with a high nose bridge, a thin face with distinct contours, a pair of deep, spirited eyes, and somewhat sparse hair—a clear sign of intelligence.
"Yu, long time no see."
Karl smiled.
Afterwards, the two exchanged pleasantries and introduced Lucas, then quickly sat down to discuss business matters.
"Yu, I’m sorry to tell you that this collaboration has not gone as smoothly as imagined."
As soon as he began speaking, Karl’s face showed difficulty.
"We have known each other for many years, so let’s be frank," Yu Qin said.
"Inside our organization, there are many opposing voices," Karl said, crossing his hands on the table and glancing at Yu Qin and Lucas.
"Why?" Lucas asked, his expression changing.
"Lucas, since you are a friend of Yu’s and mine as well, I’ll speak frankly."
"Please do," Lucas indicated.
Karl explained, "Recently, your hackers faced off against a web novel writer and were completely defeated, which has had a significant impact in the hacker community. Therefore, AW internally doubts your capability, making cooperation difficult. My visit this time is on account of Yu’s face."
Lucas’s expression immediately turned uncomfortable, but soon, he looked at Karl with a playful glance.
Karl felt uneasy under Lucas’s stare and frowned.
Lucas smiled and asked, "Mr. Karl, have you ever heard an ancient saying from the East?"
"A man who knows the current affairs is a wise man?" Karl asked tentatively.
Lucas roughly knew what the saying meant, quickly shook his head and said, "Not that one!"
"Which then?"
"The pot calling the kettle black!" Lucas said, smiling.
"What does that mean?" Karl, not understanding the phrase, asked puzzledly.
"Mr. Karl, let me be clear, I mean no provocation or mockery, but as far as I know, your group has also been counterattacked by an individual before, and suffered a defeat," Lucas stated straightforwardly.
Karl’s face turned pale.
He had been one of the main instigators!
By bringing this up, Lucas was indeed slapping his face, albeit metaphorically, but Karl had just metaphorically slapped Lucas’s face, so it was not a good time to lose his temper.
Thus, he responded somewhat displeased, "Mr. Lucas, this mysterious person, a top-tier figure in the hacker community, is renowned. For us in AW to be broken through without any preparation was somewhat excusable..."
He grew quieter as he spoke.
Even feeling a bit guilty.
As for which top-tier hacker it was, they had yet to figure out who was responsible.
However, he was quite adamant about one aspect.
That was the latter part—up to now, AW believed that they lost that cyber battle only because they underestimated the enemy.
At that time, facing the seemingly weak Han River Network, the whole of AW was full of confidence, never imagining they’d be counterattacked, let alone that they’d be taken down in one fell swoop.
Given another chance, they were confident they could keep that ’mysterious person’ out!
This was the confidence of a top-tier hacker organization!
And their pride!
"Are you sure?" Lucas said with a laugh.
"Of course."
Karl steadied himself, speaking emphatically.
"What if I told you that the network writer who attacked Morgan Group, and the mysterious person who crushed you, are the same? Do you still think our capabilities are less than yours?" Lucas said, his lips quirking in a half-smile.
Based on the mathematical equation.
AW was defeated by Lin Chuan, and I was also defeated by Lin Chuan, so I am equal to AW!
A logical deduction!
Karl outright waved his hand denying it: "Impossible, absolutely impossible!"
"Impossible?"
Lucas confidently picked up the remote control; the electronic screen had already automatically turned off.
The electronic screen lit up again.
"That web novel writer is named Lin Chuan, pen name Mr. Lin. This is an excerpt from his novel ’Hacker Kingdom.’"
Lucas displayed the content of the novel in front of Karl.
Karl initially didn’t take it seriously, but when he saw the "bright red flag," he subconsciously remembered the red flag that had appeared on his computer screen at the time.
He was furious!
It was the opponent flaunting their victory!
It could even be said to be the humiliation of the strong toward the weak!
That person not only wanted to break through his network security but also his defense!
Indeed, Karl’s defenses were breached!
He and a group of participants could only use "underestimating the enemy" as an excuse, comforting themselves to avoid a mental breakdown!
At the moment, with their wounds reopened, Karl still found it impossible to calmly accept and face the reality!
"Is just a segment of the novel enough to prove anything?"
Karl countered, his tone somewhat impatient.
"Karl, don’t rush, let Lucas and I explain slowly," Yu Qin, as Karl’s friend for many years, didn’t want Lucas and Karl to end up on bad terms over this issue, so she interjected a reminder.
"Alright, you speak!" Karl conceded, giving face to Yu Qin.
Yu Qin nodded at Lucas, indicating she would take over.
She then looked at Karl and, in conjunction with the content on the electronic screen, expounded on the entire affair.
She particularly highlighted the similarities between the techniques in Lin Chuan’s novel and the methods used by the mysterious person to attack AW.
Karl’s frown deepened.
Lin Chuan, the web novel writer, was really the mysterious person who had brought him down?

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