Chapter 415: The Top Hacker
"Can you trace where the attack is coming from?" Marx asked, settling into an empty chair beside the man wearing thick glasses.
"Yes, Boss. The attack is originating from the southern part of the Usturian Capital," the man replied.
Marx nodded thoughtfully. Without another word, he leaned forward, opened his laptop, and began typing. His fingers danced across the keyboard with incredible speed, drawing the awestruck attention of those around him.
Even the man with thick glasses couldn’t hide his astonishnt when a familiar profile ID appeared on the screen: XX. He blinked and leaned closer to confirm. It was undeniably the sa profile na that had been a legend on the dark web. His eyes widened as he looked at Marx.
So it was him all along, the man thought. No wonder XX had disappeared for two years—his boss had vanished for the sa amount of ti.
He glanced back at the massive monitor on the wall. "Boss, the young hacker aborted the attack," he reported. "They retreated after nearly breaching the firewall."
Marx didn’t reply, fully engrossed in his task. He tracked the hacker’s movents ticulously, zeroing in on their location before they could erase their trail.
"There," he muttered. "The borders of Albanya, forrly Lupanya, now part of Ra-Iya and Lireya."
The thick-glassed man shook his head in disbelief. "Brilliant," he whispered. The hacker had faked their IP address so convincingly that anyone else would have believed they were operating from the other side of the globe.
Just as Marx began gathering additional details, the hacker vanished, their digital footprint wiped clean.
Marx leaned back in his chair, staring at the blank screen. "Whoever they are," he murmured, "they’re no ordinary adversary."
...
In a laboratory hidden within the King’s Palace in Ra-Iya, Erick hastily powered down all his hacking devices. His heart pounded in his chest—he had barely evaded detection. Thankfully, his decoy worked, and the palace’s location remained undiscovered. A breach would have been catastrophic.
The encounter left Erick shaken. The defender of Maharlika’s servers was no ordinary opponent. Their skill was unnerving. How could soone be this formidable? Their profile was entirely hidden—an enigma. Could it have been XX?
anwhile, at his secret lair on the northern tip of Verde Island, Marx worked tirelessly, addressing several pressing matters. By the ti he returned to Maharlika Palace in the late afternoon, he was greeted with unexpected news: Princess Amaya had been summoned to Asteria Palace earlier that day.
Marx couldn’t quite pinpoint his emotions—disappointnt, perhaps? He hadn’t even received a ssage from her. Shouldn’t she have inford him before leaving? Still, he tried to brush it off. After all, could he bla her? For two years, she’d learned to live without him, and perhaps she didn’t think it necessary to keep him in the loop anymore.
But the thought lingered. Had she truly forgotten about him?
At Asteria Palace, Princess Amaya was taken by surprise when she was greeted by familiar faces.
"Amaya, it’s been such a long ti!" Tamara, the Princess of Albanya, greeted her warmly.
"Tamara!" Princess Amaya bead, opening her arms to embrace her friend. Her gaze then shifted to the tall, handso man standing beside Tamara, holding a baby in his arms.
"And what about
and my little niece? Don’t we get a hug from the Princess?" Raquim teased with a playful smile.
Amaya chuckled, her eyes sparkling. "Prince Raquim, you’re looking well. It’s good to see you’ve fully recovered."
Raquim’s expression softened, his gaze tender as it lingered on her. "And that’s all thanks to you, my Princess."
Tamara, observing her brother’s obvious admiration, rolled her eyes. She knew all too well about Raquim’s infatuation with Amaya, though the Princess herself remained blissfully unaware.
Amaya stepped closer to Raquim, her attention shifting to the baby in his arms. She gently pinched the child’s chubby cheeks before reaching out to carry him. Their hands briefly brushed as she took the baby, and Raquim froze for a mont, clearly affected by the small contact.
"What brings you two here?" Amaya asked, cradling the baby and rocking him gently.
"We ca to deliver this personally, so you can’t refuse." Tamara grinned mischievously as she handed Amaya an elegantly crafted invitation. It was an invitation for her son’s birthday.
Princess Amaya laughed as she took it. "You know
too well. Now I can’t say no." She led the two to the sitting room and asked a servant to serve tea and pastries.
"How about you, Raquim? Why did you co to visit? I know you must be very busy," Princess Amaya inquired with a gentle smile.
Prince Raquim hesitated montarily before lifting his teacup gracefully and taking a small sip.
"I ca to discuss important matters with your father and grandfather," he said evenly. "And to personally convey my father and Albanya’s gratitude for Lireya’s help during the pandemic. Our infection rates were high, but thankfully, fatalities remained low because of the vaccine and immune booster."
"You should thank yourself, Prince Raquim," Amaya replied earnestly. "It was the antigen in your body that significantly contributed to the rapid developnt of the vaccine."
Raquim inclined his head in acknowledgnt. Setting the cup down on the low table before him, his gaze softened as he watched Amaya play with his little niece.
After a while, Princess Amaya excused herself, stepping away to answer the call of nature. Tamara wasted no ti teasing her brother as soon as the princess was out of earshot.
"Brother, you’re practically a master at charming won. If you weren’t a prince, you’d have been labeled a playboy long ago. So why do you turn into a shy schoolboy whenever it cos to Amaya?" Tamara grinned mischievously.
Raquim sighed, running a hand through his hair. "She’s so exceptional that I feel insignificant in her presence," he admitted quietly. "Amaya is like an unattainable flower, a beauty I can only admire from a distance."
Tamara stared at him in disbelief. "Is that really you, brother? When did you start sounding so... inferior and unsure of yourself?" she said, shaking her head in exasperation.
Glancing at her watch, Tamara suddenly straightened. "It’s ti to et your future father- and grandfather-in-law," she announced, her teasing smirk returning. "Good luck, brother!"
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