“Did you see that? Daddy was obviously feeling guilty.” Tony told Ben and Donna when they were back in their room.
“Yeah, that was a little strange.” Donna nodded in agreement. “Why must the adults do this? Instead of being honest with us, they insist on making us find the truth ourselves bit by bit!”
Right then, Ben piped up, “They don't want us to know because they're afraid we'll take action on our own and get into danger. At the same time, they don't want us to worry.”
“They don't want us to worry?” Donna echoed, falling into deep thought. “Ben 's right,” Tony agreed.
“But Nelly is the only person we'd be worried about...” his sister murmured. Looking up at him, she asked, “Is it related to her?”
“We aren't sure about that yet, so we'll have to discover that ourselves,” Tony voiced.
Ben bobbed his head. “What happened outside Thalia's room earlier was rather strange as well. If it were just a simple checkup and changing of medicine, Nelly wouldn't have waited before the door for that long.”
When Donna heard his suspicion, she chimed in, “Yes, I was curious about that, but just as I was about to bring it up, Thalia regained consciousness, and Nelly walked into her room.”
“So they are hiding more than one thing from us?” Tony speculated.
“Daddy and the others will definitely be going into action again in the next few days. We have to keep an eye on them,” Ben declared.
Tony nodded. “Let's do that, then. If there are any updates, post them in our group chat.” “Sure.”
“Okay!”
His two siblings concurred with his decision. Just then, Tony 's phone rang.
Ben and Donna turned to look at him.
“It's Miguel,” Tony informed them before he answered the call. “Hello,” he said into the receiver.
“Master, where are you?” Miguel's piteous voice sounded over the line.
“I'm upstairs. Why?”
“Help!” Miguel yelped.
“What is it? Just say it straight out.”
“That person hacked into my phone. What should I do now?” Miguel asked.
Hearing a trace of nervousness in his voice, Tony assured him, “I'll head over right now.” “Okay!”
After the call ended, Ben asked, “What's wrong?”
“That person caused trouble again. This time, they hacked into Miguel's phone. I need to go and take a look,” Tony revealed.
“Let's go, then. We can't fish for any information now, so we might as well check out the situation together,” Ben suggested.
Hence, the trio headed to the hidden room together.
Just as they arrived at the doorway, they saw Miguel slumping on the floor right before the door, looking downcast.
Tony went over to him. “What's going on? Are you giving up this soon?” he asked, shooting him a glance.
“Master, what should I do? I've been insulted!” Miguel cried. He acted as though the boy was his lifesaver.
“Why? Were you raped?” Tony retorted.
Miguel was rendered speechless. It took him a few seconds to recover his voice. “I was talking about my phone getting hacked!”
“Oh, that's nothing,” Tony replied, his voice dripping in disdain.
“That's nothing? Master, I'm among the top five hackers in the world! What will people think of me if word gets out that my phone got hacked?” Miguel complained.
Tony stared at him. “How impressive. You don't have skills, yet you value your pride, huh?” “Master!”
“All right. Give me your phone!” Tony urged.
Instantly, Miguel offered his phone to him without hesitation.
Tony took it and perused his phone. A while later, he said, “It did get hacked. What did you do? Did you browse an illegal website?”
“Of course not!” Miguel replied hastily.
“Then why did it get hacked for no reason?” Tony inquired.
“I-I don't know. I merely used my phone to enter a forum and saw people chatting on it. I then clicked on a link... Was it that link?” Realization dawned on Miguel suddenly.
Seeing his reaction, Tony remarked, “Clearly, it was that link.”
“D*mn! I can't believe they pulled such a despicable trick on me!” Miguel cursed. “Let's go!” Tony ordered and strode into the hidden room.
Upon arriving before the computer, he stretched his hand out and said curtly, “Cable.” Miguel gave him the cable immediately.
The boy then connected the phone to the computer with the cable. At once, lines of codes and a progress bar appeared on the computer screen.
“It's a Trojan horse,” Tony said.
“Yes, it's a Trojan horse. I tried many times but failed to remove it!” Miguel revealed. Tony swept his gaze over him. “Don't tell anyone I'm your master.”
“Why?” Miguel asked curiously.
Donna piped up, “Why else? You're embarrassing, of course!” Words eluded Miguel then and there.
He quickly turned to Tony and vowed, “Master, you'll always be my master!”
The boy did not bother replying to him. With his gaze fixated on the screen, Tony started to remove the software.
“Who is it?” “Who is it?”
From behind, Donna and Miguel asked in unison. Following that, they exchanged glances and quickly looked away disdainfully.
“It's that fellow who hacked us the other time!” Tony 's voice sounded.
Donna seemed to have recalled something. “The one who got rooted out by Nelly in a second?” “That's right.” Tony nodded. He was visibly pleased with the description she gave.
Donna snickered. “What an interesting fellow. Isn't it embarrassing enough the other time? Why is he delivering himself to us again? There's no end to his shenanigans, huh?”
Tony stared at the computer screen as he fell into deep thought. Ben peeked at the screen and analyzed, “After Nelly weeded that fellow out previously, she already got the system's loopholes fixed, leaving him no way of getting in. Finding an opportunity to hack Miguel's phone was probably his only option left so that you'll actively seek him out.” His gaze landed on Tony as he finished speaking.
At that, Miguel shifted his gaze to Tony as well. Is that so?
Tony , nonetheless, had his eyes fixed on the computer screen. At that precise moment, the other party sent over a message that read: You've finally shown yourself.
“You're absolutely right,” Tony said to Ben while nodding. Ben curled the corners of his lips up.
Behind him, Miguel was at a loss for words. So, what on earth was I taken for? Cannon fodder? Or a foot pedal?
“But why did he do that? What motive does he have to look for you?” Miguel wondered aloud. “He's probably unwilling to accept the reality,” Donna reasoned.
As if trying to seek verification, Miguel turned to look at Ben , to which the latter nodded and said, “Yeah, that's possible.”
At that very moment, Tony got connected with the other party.
Tony straightforwardly wrote: Tell me, what is it again this time?
That person cut to the chase and replied: Who is that person from the other time?
In their profession, it was possible to tell apart one from another based on their skills even without meeting face-to-face. Everyone had different areas of expertise and distinct ways of maneuver. That was why Tony had already figured something out when the other party popped the question.
Nevertheless, as Nelly 's identity concerned her safety, there was no way Tony would expose her. Tony : What do you mean by the person from the other time? What are you talking about?
The other party: Don't tell me it was you previously. Tony : Well, what do you expect?
The other party: That person's skills are exceptional. Even though it was less than a minute, I could tell there was a difference. That's the first time I came across someone who can do great at both offense and defense.
His explanation made Tony and the rest turn solemn.
The fact that he could discern it was another person's skills within a minute was enough to prove that he was not an ordinary person.
Staring at the computer screen, Tony pondered briefly and replied: Thank you for your compliments. I'll gratefully accept it!
The other party: Your skills are impressive too, but you're only good at offense. Tony stilled for a split second before responding: What exactly are you trying to say? The other party: I want to go head-to-head with you guys again!
Tony : I don't have time for that.
The other party: Let's do it again. I may not lose this time.
Taking a deep breath, Tony typed: Even if we compete another ten times, you'll still lose! The other party: Aren't you a little too confident?
Tony : Confident or not, can't you tell?
The other party: I admit I'm no match for that person. As for you, I think we have to compete again to see.
It was the first time someone had dared to doubt Tony 's capabilities.
Just as Tony wanted to say something, Ben held him back. “Don't fall for his trick.” Tony turned to look at him.
“Since he has doubts, it'll be easy for him to find a flaw if you compete against him now,” Ben analyzed.
After a brief moment of hesitation, Tony bobbed his head. Tony : You want to compete?
The other party: Of course. Tony : Sure. Bring it on!
“Tony...” Donna stared at her brother from behind. Tony kept silent and continued to look at the computer. The other party: You'd better keep your word!
It was clear that the other party was pretty excited. Tony : My time is precious. Hurry up.
The other party: Let's play something fun and simple this time! Tony : What is it?
The other party: I have a piece of software that I just bought from someone. There's a flaw in it. Let's see who can locate it first.
Tony : Sure.
Soon, their battle began.
“Tony...” Donna watched closely from behind.
A mischievous grin formed on Tony 's face as he pinned his eyes on the computer screen. The other party: Let's begin.
With that, he took the lead and made a false start. As much as they both seized the time to begin the mission, Tony became increasingly slower with his progress after his initial lackadaisical lunge forward. Eventually, he came to a point where he completely stopped doing anything.
Several minutes went by quickly. Suddenly, the other party typed: What's going on? Why aren't you moving?
Tony : Carry on! I'm letting you win!
The other party: W-What's with that attitude?
Tony : Nothing. You'll stop bothering me if you win, won't you? Hurry up, I'm busy.
Only then did realization dawn upon Donna about what was going on. Unable to hold herself back, she chuckled. “Tony, that's gonna drive him mad!”