?Chapter 744:

He hesitated briefly before continuing,

“And get this — I just picked up on someone else hammering at the ship’s defense. They’re no amateur. Boss… don’t tell me you jumped in because you thought I was drowning over here?”

Maia was at a loss.

“That wasn’t me,” she denied without hesitation. “I figured you and Pris could handle a cargo ship’s system in your sleep.”

“Huh? Then who the heck is it?” the subordinate asked, his voice trailing into puzzled silence.

A subtle furrow appeared on Maia’s brow, a trace of realization dawning.

“If you noticed them, you must’ve gotten a trace. What did the IP point to?”

“They cloaked themselves underyers of fake addresses, but my analysis puts them somewhere in Wront,” he reported honestly. “That’s why I assumed it was you.”

“Wront?” Maia echoed, her voice dripping with doubt as her eyes narrowed. Now her curiosity was utterly piqued. Who else was ying in her backyard? She herself was in Wront and hadn’t heard whispers of any other elite hackers operating in the city.

“Could be another smokescreen.”

“So, what now?”

Maia paused, then spoke with calm conviction.

“It doesn’t matter who they are. For now, it looks like they’re chasing the same oue we are. So keep pressing the attack. If the navigation system won’t break, shift focus to the propulsion system. Hit them where it hurts.”

“Understood!” the subordinate replied without dy.

Your next story is at gα?ησν????s

Elsewhere, in Kolton’s domain, a wall of monitors burst into a flurry of shing red alerts. The screens blinked with warnings like fireflies in a forest ze — his defense system had entered crisis mode.

“Sir, we’ve got another wave of attacks!” a covert operative reported, his voice tight with urgency, sweat beading along his temples. “This batch is bigger than thest — the number of active nodes has doubled! And they’re noting from one ce anymore. Half are pinging from Amerya, the other half from Otruitho. I’m betting we’re dealing with two separate attackers!”

Kolton, who moments earlier had been reclining with the ease of a man in control, straightened with a frown cutting across his face.

“Two attackers?” He chuckled, a bitter amusement in his tone. “What’s next — are you going to tell me it’s ST and Pris teaming up? Don’t make meugh. There’s no universe where those two would join forces. And it’s even less likely that two different genius-level groups would decide to crash the same party at the same time. Clearly, someone’s trying to pull wool over our eyes.”

He leaned forward, his voice dropping like a hammer.

“I’m not interested in excuses — I want results. If you let this fall apart, then you’d better have an exnation ready for your superior.”

The moment those words from Koltonnded, the covert operatives stiffened, their reactions betraying a flicker of shock.

Without wasting another second, they returned to work, though the sudden chill in their expressions revealed their unease. Kolton’s earlier warning had clearly shaken them. They shifted gears and beganunching counterattacks that mirrored the enemy’s offensive rhythm.

As the sh continued, something clicked. The patterns they were responding to felt eerily familiar. It became clear that these movements resembled those used by the two hacking organizations. Fortunately, their team had trained under simtions that mimicked tactics from both.

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