The air inside the Ministry of Defense's observation room felt as cold as ice—even though the thermostat pointed to a normal temperature.Physically, the place looked like an ordinary meeting room. But for the vendors present, the room had morphed into a bloody gladiator arena—only their swords and shields were replaced by lines of digital code.Precisely because of that tense atmosphere, Tracy's presence felt like an anomaly. The moment the door opened and Tracy stepped in, the judging panel—consisting of fully uniformed generals and stiff-faced military cyber experts—turned their heads simultaneously. Their gazes immediately locked onto her silhouette.Tracy played her role flawlessly. Pushing up her glasses, which somehow made her face look even more provocative, she cast a light smile at every pair of eyes that met hers.The rigid air in the room slowly thawed. Seth, walking calmly behind her, smiled in relief. This was exactly the point.Even though what was ultimately measured w

The second phase, Live Pen-Testing, began. BlinkTech's turn fell early in the order.Sawyer took his position in front of the terminal with his jaw clenched tight. Inside the soundproof, steel-reinforced glass room across from them, ten elite hackers from the Military Red Team began bombarding the vendor's firewall simultaneously.Sawyer's fingers flew wildly across the keyboard, typing strings of code to patch the system leaks in real-time. Beads of sweat as large as corn kernels flooded his forehead and temples.In 2016, this was the gold standard in the cybersecurity world—reactive manual defense. For fifteen agonizing minutes, Sawyer squeezed every ounce of his brain capacity and managed to keep his server from crashing.When the timer alarm rang, Sawyer leaned back, heavily pumping oxygen into his lungs. He looked toward Colonel Miller and Major Green with an arrogant smirk, demanding validation. Both officers gave solid nods of approval for his program's endurance."Quite an imp

("Because drinking alcohol constitutes a primitive activity that literally kills your brain cells,") Chloe scoffed, her tone dripping with disdain."Only idiots pay premium prices to poison their own nervous systems. I have a guild raid in twenty minutes. I have no time for your useless party.")Seth shook his head, thoroughly amused by her logic. "Alright, I will come home soon. What do you want? Consider it a reward for your hard work today, even though you did it with extreme reluctance."The rapid clicking on the other end stopped. ("You are truly lame and stupid, Seth.")Seth furrowed his brows, surprised that his good intentions met with an insult. "What do you mean?"("Asking someone what they want for a gift completely destroys the psychological purpose of gift-giving itself! The best rewards act as surprises that prove you actually pay attention to the recipient. The fact that you have to ask proves you possess the emotional intelligence of a brick.")Seth’s eye twitched. His

BAM!The sound of dented metal clashing against bone echoed loudly in the quiet corner of the hospital hallway.Seth punched the metal fire extinguisher cabinet with full force. Its protective glass shattered violently, and fresh blood began to drip from his torn knuckles."That..." Kael immediately reached out for Seth's hand, but Seth shook his head. Seth wiped the blood from his hand using the edge of his suit sleeve.His hand trembled, but not from the pain, as the injury was nothing more than a superficial tear.His hand trembled from the rapidly igniting fury, especially after hearing Kael's report.Those men did not just attack randomly; they specifically targeted the flash drive containing Chloe's AI program, and Tracy became their unfortunate victim."Where is he?" Seth hissed, his voice so hoarse it was barely audible."In the car trunk," Kael whispered, standing right behind him. "I deliberately parked it in the darkest corner.""Give me the keys," Seth demanded, holding ou

Jacob's body instantly froze. That name swept away every ounce of his courage, leaving nothing behind. That name made him realize his mistake was far too massive."I-I am sorry... Please!" Jacob began to wail and cry. "I didn't know! I truly didn't know they worked for you!"Seth ignored the whimpers. He walked over and sat on top of one of the meat storage crates. His eyes stared at Jacob as cold as eternal ice."Your biggest mistake tonight, Jacob, was not trying to steal my property," Seth said quietly. "But daring to hurt my people."Seth reached into the tool belt hanging on the wall, pulled out a sharp meat cleaver, and tossed it so it clattered onto the floor, right in front of Jacob's knees."I want your ear," Seth ordered.Jacob screamed, shaking his head in horror. "NO! I BEG YOU! PLEASE, NO!"Victor clicked his tongue, signaling his two men. "Hold him down. Let my boys cut it off for you, Seth.""No need," Seth raised his hand, stopping Victor's men in their tracks. "He wil