Once again, Ben left Tony 's room in a huff. This time, however, he bumped into Donna , who had just appeared at the doorway, as soon as he opened the door.
Donna was puzzled when she saw Ben standing there. Her gaze then shifted to Tony inside the room. She froze. “Are you guys quarreling, Ben?”
Ben lowered his gaze to conceal his emotions. “No!” he said. Then, he strode out, brushing past her.
Uh...
Donna furrowed her brows as she watched his resolute figure walking away. That doesn't seem like nothing.
She turned her gaze toward Tony . “What happened between you two, Tony?”
Tony took a deep breath and met her gaze, forcing a smile. “We're fine. What about you? Did you need something from me?”
“Nothing, exactly. I didn't see you and Ben earlier, so I came to look for you...” As she spoke, her brows knitted together, fixing him with a curious gaze. “I've never seen the two of you argue before. What caused it?”
Tony studied her languidly. “So, you came to me for the scoop, haven't you?”
“What? No. How is this gossiping? I'm just concerned about you two!” Donna protested.
Tony turned away. “Instead of spending time asking me, you might as well comfort Ben. It would be more effective.”
Donna shuffled closer and leaned on the door frame. “How can I comfort you if you won't tell me what's wrong, Tony?”
“Ask Ben!”
“Tony...”
Tony turned around and placed his hand on the door. “Is there anything else? I'm going to shut the door!”
With a frown, Donna gazed at him coyly. “Tony...”
Tony stepped forward and rapped her forehead gently. “Acting coy won't work on me. I'm not Ben. I'm closing the door if there's nothing else you want.”
Donna pouted at his snark. “Hmph!” With a toss of her head, she turned and strode off.
As he watched her receding figure, Tony called out, “Donna !”
Donna paused and turned back to look at him. In a delicate and sweet voice, she asked, “What's the matter?”
Tony stared at her, wanting to say something but hesitated. After a pause, he said, “ Nelly isn't feeling well. Spend some time with her if you can.”
Donna paused for a moment at the mention of that and turned to study him. “Speaking of which, what's really going on with Nelly ?”
“Stomach issues.”
“Stomach issues?” Donna murmured, her brows furrowed with thought. Just as she was about to ask further, Tony interrupted, “All right. Off you go!”
Without waiting for Donna to say anything else, he shut the door, leaving her standing outside, hesitating to speak.
After the door slammed shut, Donna sighed helplessly and turned to leave.
Meanwhile, inside the room, Tony leaned against the door, his little face taut, his gaze indescribably heavy and complex.
I don't want to burden them with this pressure, but I also don't wish for them to harbor any regrets, which might lead to them resenting me later. I have no choice but to do this. I hope you understand, Ben and Donna .
With those thoughts weighing heavily on his mind, Tony took a deep breath.
...
Donna went after Ben , pursing him all the way.
Ben finally stopped when they reached the courtyard outside. Donna went after him, gasping for breath.
“You're walking too quickly, Ben. I can't keep up!” Donna called out from behind him.
Ben was looking straight ahead. Pursing his lips, he did not say a word.
After catching her breath, Donna stepped forward. “Are you upset, Ben?” she asked gingerly upon noticing his rather angry expression.
“No!” Ben said simply.
That's how Ben always is. The angrier he gets, the more he denies it.
Donna sighed. “When did you also learn to say one thing and mean another, Ben?”
Ben remained silent. He kept his gaze on the distant horizon.
Donna 's eyes twinkled as she took in the scene. Then, she walked around to where Ben was. With a smile playing on her lips, she teased him, “What's really going on with you, Ben? Is it something so serious that I can't even help you anymore?”
Ben lowered his gaze. If he was being honest with himself, he was furious.
But when he saw Donna 's smile, the anger that had been building up in his chest almost dissipated entirely.
Ben could not help breaking into a smile when he saw her.
“Oh, you.” Ben gazed at her and sighed helplessly.
Seeing him smile, Donna began to laugh. “You look so good when you laugh, Ben. Just like Nelly !”
Ben 's mood sank once again at the mention of Nelly . However, he did not want to worry Donna , so he pretended as if nothing was wrong.
“Donna ,” Ben called out to her.
“Hmm?”
“Do you think...” Ben was about to say something, but he held back the words that were on the tip of his tongue.
“What?” Donna asked, blinking her lively eyes.
Ben looked at her, hesitating to discuss Nelly 's health. However, knowing Donna 's penchant for suspicion, she would inevitably notice something amiss if he were to ask.
Why should I cause Donna worry about things that aren't even certain yet?
At that thought, Ben swallowed his words and smiled at her. “Nothing.”
Donna narrowed her eyes. “Why are you behaving just like Tony, Ben?”
“Like him? How?” Ben asked.
“Always speaking in riddles and acting mysterious,” Donna muttered.
“What did Tony say?” Ben asked.
“He didn't say much, just... um, mentioned that Nelly isn't feeling well and asked me to spend more time with her,” Donna said, thinking aloud.
Ben 's eyes narrowed. “And? What else did he say?”
After thinking carefully, Donna said, “Nothing else. That was it.”
“Didn't you ask further?” Ben asked.
“I did ask him about Nelly 's condition,” Donna said.
“What did Tony say?” Ben asked, looking at her anxiously.
“He only said that Nelly has a stomach issue...” As she spoke, Donna furrowed her brows as if she, too, was not satisfied with the answer.
Ben relaxed when he heard what she said. He should have guessed that that was Tony 's default response.
Since he had told me that, he would certainly have told Donna the same thing. Otherwise, he would be contradicting himself.
As he arrived at that conclusion, the look in Ben 's eyes remained indescribably complex.
Suddenly, Donna seemed to have recalled something. She turned to Ben to ask, “Why do I get the feeling that what Tony said sounds a little far-fetched, Ben?”
Ben glanced at her. Even Donna thought the matter was far-fetched; it showed how unconvincing the answer was.
“Well, I'm not too sure about this either, but let's just do as Tony suggested for now,” Ben said.
Donna raised her eyebrows in amusement. “Oh? Weren't you just arguing with Tony? Why have you suddenly changed your tune to do as he says?”
As she spoke, she looked him in the eye. “Ben, why were you arguing with Tony earlier?”
Looking at Donna , who was blinking curiously, Ben spoke in a low voice. “It's nothing!”
“Really?” Donna pouted, whispering, “Do you all think I'm stupid, unable to detect anything?”
Ben reached out and gently patted her head, his voice filled with affection. “You're anything but stupid!”
With her lively eyes twinkling, Donna exclaimed, “Then why do you still deceive me, Ben?”
Ben withdrew his hand, looking at her helplessly. “This isn't deception. It's a matter between Tony and me, a problem among men, so it should be resolved by us.”
This explanation was something that Donna could quite accept.
She hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “All right. If that's the case, I won't pry any further. Remember not to stay angry for too long, though,” Donna said.
Although the brothers had their share of arguments growing up, those disputes became less and less frequent as they matured. The situation on that day was something that hadn't occurred for a long while.
Hence, upon seeing the situation, Donna was somewhat curious.
At that moment, Ben 's gaze fell on the lively face of Donna . After a long while, the corners of his mouth curved upward. “Understood.”
Donna looked at him before smiling sweetly. Seeing that, Ben also started to laugh.
Under the setting sun, the siblings stood there, their shadows stretching out long. It was a kind of indescribable beauty.
Meanwhile, Tony was sitting in front of the computer, his fingers rapidly tapping away.
The operation was imminent, so he must make some preparations.
Regarding DX's dark web, he still needed to understand the program to prevent any oversights during an attack.
After entering the authorization code, Tony quickly accessed the dark web. As he was exploring, he suddenly noticed an unusual trace. Tony followed that string of code and discovered a set of numerical traces that didn't quite match the rest of the dark web. According to Tony 's intuition, that was set up intentionally by someone.
With that thought in mind, Tony began tapping away on his keyboard.
Concurrently, Tony directly dialed Dave's phone number.
A few seconds later, the call connected. “Hello.”
“Alpha Dave, it's me.” Tony spoke up.
“What's wrong?” Dave asked straightforwardly.
“Where are you now?”
“Headquarters. I'm in a meeting.”
“Perfect. I'll send you a set of codes. Have the person in charge of the dark web take a look and see what's going on!” Tony said directly.
As he was speaking, Dave's phone received a message. He opened it to find a string of codes from the dark web, causing his brows to furrow. He then put the phone to his ear and asked directly, “What is this?”
“While exploring the dark web system earlier, I came across a set of numbers that seemed out of the ordinary. I ran all the programs, and these sets of numbers don't seem to align with anything in the system!”
Dave understood his meaning, pondered for a moment, and said, “Tony , just tell me the conclusion.”
“If I'm not mistaken, this must be a loophole left intentionally by someone!” Tony said.
Dave listened, then walked straight outside. Only when he reached a deserted place did he speak up. “Tony , answer me directly. What will happen if this flaw is exploited?” Dave asked.
After some thought, Tony said, “Well, it depends on who's using it!”
“What'll happen if ordinary people access it?”
“Ordinary people can't cause much of a stir. At most, they may accidentally trigger your system, causing you to panic, or perhaps implant a virus.”
“Won't implanting a virus stir up trouble?”
“This is something your person in charge of the dark web can handle. It's not a big issue!”
Upon reflection, Dave agreed. However, he raised an eyebrow and asked, “What if it was accessed by you and Nelly ?”
As Tony was tapping on his keyboard, he paused slightly upon hearing these words. “Well, that's hard to say. If it was me, I might just take down the entire dark web. If it were up to Nelly , all of your core
secrets would probably be exposed. However, if it were both of us... I'd really like to know too!” Tony said.
So far, Tony hadn't yet teamed up with Nelly , even though he knew they'd make a powerful team. He was very curious about what the outcome would be if they worked together.
In response, Dave fell silent for a moment. “I understand. I'll handle it right away!”
“If you need my help, I'm willing to offer it for free!” Tony said.
“No need. I'm the person in charge of the dark web, and I'm not that stupid!” With that, Dave was about to hang up the phone.
“Alpha Dave!”
Just as Dave was about to hang up the phone, Tony suddenly spoke up to stop him.
“Is there anything else?” Dave asked.
“I've found out when that set of numbers was left behind. It was on the ninth of last month. Alpha Dave, you'd better look into it. I personally think this matter isn't as simple as it seems!” Tony said.
“You're saying there's a mole in the dark web?” Dave asked.
“It's hard to tell just based on that, but this matter isn't that simple!” Tony said in a low voice.
Upon hearing the news, Dave chuckled lightly. “Last time when Nelly came to DX, she told me there was a mole. Now, you're logging into the dark web and telling me the same thing. What's next? Is the entirety of DX going to be purged?”
“I don't want to bring you that news either. However, it's better to be safe than sorry, Alpha Dave!”
“I know!” After saying that, Dave hung up immediately.
Standing at the door, Dave pondered for a moment. The ninth of last month... That was before Alpha Kilian and his team arrived. Indeed, the dark web was attacked once at that time. However, it was merely a minor disturbance. They didn't even penetrate the outer layer before eventually giving up. Could this be related to that incident?
With that thought in mind, Dave immediately pulled out his phone and made a call. “Come to my conference room!”
Meanwhile, Tony was at the computer, far from idle. In addition to figuring out the time when the set of numbers was left behind, he also created a code for Dave's group to facilitate their subsequent repairs.
After finishing, Tony immediately sent it to Dave.
Afterward, he continued to study the dark web. Apart from that suspicious set of numbers, the dark web was indeed a formidable system. It could defend against attacks and even paralyze the attacker, among other things. However, he only had limited access, so he was still in the dark about the internal functions of the dark web.
However, no matter how good a computer system was, Tony always believed there was room for improvement. The moment he saw the dark web, a multitude of ideas sprang to his mind. Instead of sitting idly by, he immediately started typing code on his computer.
Time passed quickly as he focused on his task.
When Tony interacted with those codes, he was completely engrossed, finding joy and pleasure in the process. It was to the point that time slipped past him without him even noticing.
When he tapped the last number on the keyboard, a satisfied smile appeared on his countenance. He stretched lazily, turning his gaze toward the outside. By then, the sky outside had already darkened.
Just as Tony was about to get up, his phone rang again. He frowned when he saw the call was from Dave.