Canada, in a dilapidated rental apartment.
Simon Senna impatiently opened the door.
"You looking to die?"
Before he could finish his sentence, the dark, cold muzzle of a gun was already pressed against his forehead.
Simon Senna's body stiffened.
"Who are you? Which gang? I'm with Brother K—"
But before he could finish, a group of armed thugs had already grabbed him and barged into his room.
"Search the place!"
The bald strong man leading them waved his hand, and the group scattered, beginning to rummage through every corner of the shabby rental apartment.
"What's the meaning of this?"
Simon Senna was completely confused, but his gut told him something was wrong. Even pinned against the table by others, his eyes nervously darted back and forth, sizing up these people.
However, when he saw the tattoo on the bald man's arm, a cold sweat instantly broke out all over his body, and his legs began to tremble uncontrollably.
"Boss, here's his computer!"
Someone suddenly shouted.
The bald man's gaze turned sinister as he stared at the man on the table, then strode over to the computer.
Simon Senna could only instinctively follow the movement with his eyes. When he saw the computer screen, which had somehow lit up again, his pupils contracted sharply, and his entire body went limp.
How?
He had just secured his computer with a safety lock. Even if these people took his computer, they absolutely shouldn't be able to open it, let alone discover the files inside—
But now, the computer screen was brightly lit, and all the files that could cost him his life at any moment were blatantly displayed right in the center of the interface, as if afraid no one would see them.
And those files were precisely the smuggling data he had stolen some time ago!
Recently, the gang Simon Senna belonged to was involved in a drug smuggling operation, with goods worth hundreds of thousands of euros. To ensure the transaction proceeded smoothly, the gang had been on high alert.
Yet, no one expected that their transaction data would still be hacked and stolen, and the hacker even had the audacity to blackmail their gang.
When the leader found out about this, he was so furious he nearly vomited blood. He immediately had the few people responsible for confidentiality thrown to the sharks and launched a relentless investigation, determined to catch the hacker.
Unfortunately, in the end, their threats and rage were useless against the mysterious hacker.
With no other choice, and because this business involved too many people and promised huge profits, the gang had to compromise. They prepared a large sum of money to buy back the confidential data.
Originally, the gang members planned to catch the guy when handing over the cash, but somehow the hacker found out about their plan. After a series of maneuvers, the gang failed to catch anyone, lost the money, and the data was leaked to their opponents.
The gang suffered a devastating blow.
The gang leader swore that if he ever caught the hacker, he would skin him, break his bones, and feed him to the sharks!
At the time, no one could have imagined that the hacker they hated and raged against had actually been hiding among them the whole time. Even the cash they gave was secretly siphoned away by Simon Senna using his identity as a fellow gang member!
"Boss, there's money here too!"
Another person dragged a large black bag from under Simon Senna's bed. Opening it, they indeed found it stuffed full of cash!
"Check it!"
The bald man said coldly.
"Okay!"
A subordinate beside him walked over and began carefully checking the serial numbers on the money, then nodded in confirmation. "It's our batch! The serial numbers match! And this isn't all of it, more than half is missing!"
Instantly, the bald man's face darkened. He grabbed Simon Senna and slapped him several times hard across the face.
"Damn it, no wonder everything's been going wrong lately. So it's you—"
"Ah, no, it's not me, Zack, let me explain—"
"Spit!"
The bald man threw him to the ground. "Never thought you had such skills. I'll chop your hands off today!"
"Ah! No! Please, I was wrong, I was wrong—"
Screams of agony immediately echoed in the rental apartment, but the people around seemed accustomed to it, each continuing with their own tasks. Only a kind-hearted old neighbor made a call to the police.
By the time the police arrived, there was no one left in the rental apartment. Only large stains of blood remained on the floor, and Simon Senna's computer had long been smashed to pieces, unrecognizable from its former state...
...
China, inside a certain hotel.
"What exactly happened?"
After hanging up the phone, Liu Rulan was still uneasy about Xiao He. In the end, she drove over overnight to confirm his current situation.
It was already past 1 a.m., and many people in the surrounding area were asleep. Although the hotel room was soundproof, she still instinctively lowered her voice to ask.
"I told you, I'm really fine, Sister Liu."
Xiao He explained somewhat helplessly.
"I've already handled it."
"Did the Qin family pull some trick again?"
Liu Rulan immediately pressed.
Xiao He was silent for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, something like that."
It's just that they severely underestimated his hacking skills and ended up being outmaneuvered by him.
"You need to be careful."
Liu Rulan was very worried. "Qin Yuezhang's grandfather, Qin Mubo, worked at the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television in his early years. He knows a lot of people from those days and has seen all sorts of messy things. If he finds out we were the ones behind this, it could be very bad for you."
"Mm, I know." Xiao He nodded.
"I mean in other aspects."
Liu Rulan's gaze fell on the cluttered computer on the nearby dining table, her words tactful. "I just hope you can protect yourself. After all, there's always someone better, and the sky beyond the sky. No matter how skilled you are alone, you can't truly do whatever you want or be omnipotent."
Even though Liu Rulan could guess that Xiao He had some hacking skills, and they were quite impressive, she absolutely couldn't imagine that Xiao He's current ability wouldn't lose out even against a national team.
In the field of hacking, Xiao He was the strongest!
"I know, Sister Liu."
How could Xiao He not understand what Liu Rulan meant?
No matter how strong he was online, he couldn't escape being a person in the real world. If Qin Mubo decided to pursue him relentlessly, it would give him a massive headache.
That old fox was truly sharp. It's just a pity he had a ridiculously foolish grandson dragging him down.
The best course now was to dispel Qin Mubo's intentions, making it impossible for him to continue targeting them.
However, Xiao He felt this matter didn't need to be so complicated.
"Sister Liu, how are things online now?"
Xiao He asked.
"Currently, it's mainly several of Qin Yuezhang's exes leading the charge at the front. But they're just talking in circles without exposing more damaging information. Our main focus is calming our fans, preventing them from getting involved in this mess."
Liu Rulan explained.
Xiao He thought for a moment, then said, "Then let's report it to the police."
Liu Rulan: "Huh?"
She looked at Xiao He with a strange expression, as if asking if he had gone mad.
Xiao He, however, nodded with complete seriousness. "My phone was hacked. Of course, I'm going to report it to the police."
When in doubt, call the police in the area.