Chapter 195: Seated in her car, Marissa was stunned when Him's message appeared on the screen. Three years prior, the hacking community had proposed a duel between them to determine the world's top hacker. Despite maintaining silence in public, Him had privately reached out to Marissa His message was reassuring: "I have no intention of opposing you." There had been no further communication between them, and they had ceased to make any ripples in the hacking community. Now, adopting the guise of Bee out of necessity, Marissa had not anticipated Him suddenly emerging and taking the opposing side After a heartbeat, she inquired of Him, "How much did Aelfric offer to make you break your promise?" Him responded, "I cfor you. It has nothing to do with Aelfric.” gvlis your escape Marissa asked again, "So you weren't summoned by them?” Him clarified, "No, I wasn't." The senior executives of the Warren Group were utterly flabbergasted as they scanned the chat log on the computer screen. They had celebrated too soon. Him had not cas their ally but had used their platform to talk to Bee Ewing awkwardly scratched his head, realizing he had falsely believed he had easily brought in the legendary hacker, Him. The reality was far from his illusion Aelfric's embarrassment was beyond measure, reaching its zenith. These two legendary hackers were conversing on the Warren Group's network, completely disregarding his presence. Yet, he felt utterly helpless. He lacked hacking expertise and was unable to find anyone more skilled than these two to aid him. He could only watch as they held sway on his own turf On the screen, Bee and Him's conversation flowed as if they were in their own secluded world. Bee asked, “What do you want to discuss with me?" Him replied, "I'm intrigued by your connection with Dr. Riss.” Marissa peered at her phone screen, a look of bewilderment slowly spreading across her face. She was curious about Him's true identity and why he had linked Riss to her. She pondered why he was interested in their relationship She couldn't help but question, "Why does my relationship with Riss concern you?" Him remarked, "It is of great importance to me." Marissa inquired further, "And why should I share that with you?" Him threatened her, saying, "If you don't tell me, I'll hunt you down and extract the answer face-to-face." Marissa chuckled. "You're awfully confident. What makes you think you can catch me?" Him proposed, "Then let's settle who truly sits atop the hacker hierarchy. The world has been wondering for the past three years." Marissa glanced at the ton her phone, feeling the pressure mounting. She had to leave soon for the Sunrise with Connor, leaving her precious little time. Before her departure, she needed to plant a custom Trojan horse into the Warren Group's system to divert Aelfric's attention Three years ago, Him had been a formidable adversary, and she wasn't sure of his current capabilities. She pondered how long it would take to contend with him now and if she could ultimately win. "If you're up for a challenge, let's schedule it for another time. I've got plans today," she said
Him declined quickly. "No way! I've finally cornered you here. I can't let you slip through my fingers. Where am I supposed to track you down if you disappear from the Warren Group's network?”
Marissa clenched her teeth in frustration. Arabella, seated next to her, noticed her tense expression and NO asked with concern, "What's wrong? Why do you look like you're ready to pounce on someone?"
Marissa quickly brushed off her thoughts and replied to Arabella with a playful tone, "Oh, I'm just engrossed ina game. There's this adversary | can't afford to lose sight of. You go ahead and take a break." "Okay." Arabella closed her eyes. "You focus on your gand show that guy who's boss. I'll be good." After soothing Arabella, Marissa turned her attention back to her phone screen. She texted back, "Alright then! Let's see who captures whom first!”