Lin Chen swiftly initiated a counter-hack.
Mitchell was extremely cautious, routing his traffic through multiple global servers. If his pursuer's skills weren't significantly superior to his own, finding him would be nearly impossible.
The Honeypot System could deceive him temporarily, but Mitchell's expertise was formidable. Given enough time, he would undoubtedly realize he'd been tricked.
*Damn, this guy is really cunning,* Lin Chen muttered inwardly.
He had cracked through thirty or so layers of proxies, employing a variety of techniques. Even a Grandmaster-level hacker, if unfamiliar with just one of these methods, would likely alert Mitchell.
But Lin Chen had no such limitations.
His hacking skills were Grandmaster-level across the board—every facet of the art was at the highest tier!
"Found you!"
A smile spread across Lin Chen's face after a few minutes.
Mitchell had disguised his computer as a meat machine, hoping to make trackers bypass it. But his trickery had failed to fool Lin Chen.
"What's going on?" Mitchell murmured. "Something feels off..."
Lin Chen's Honeypot System was well-designed, but Mitchell was highly skilled and exceptionally cautious. He keenly sensed that something was amiss.
"This won't work."
"I can't take this money."
Mitchell swiftly erased all traces of his presence.
A faint smile appeared on Lin Chen's face.
While Mitchell was erasing his tracks, Lin Chen thoroughly investigated him.
He knew exactly how much money was in Mitchell's bank account, his home address, and the names of his relatives and friends.
Lin Chen silently copied all the data from Mitchell's computer. The information on it was enough to send him to prison for life.
Mitchell was cautious; he avoided missions worth millions or tens of millions of dollars. However, he had taken on numerous jobs worth one hundred thousand or several hundred thousand dollars.
The penalties for these crimes were severe.
Combined, they could land him in prison for at least two hundred years!
"Phew!"
After erasing all traces and unplugging his internet cable, Mitchell breathed a sigh of relief. No one should be able to track him now.
"No, this still isn't safe. I need to get out of here. I'm going to Africa for a month."
*This is bad,* Mitchell thought to himself.
He quickly gathered his things, ready to make a run for it.
*Bang!*
But before Mitchell could finish packing, his door was kicked open, and several police officers stormed in.
"Stay put!"
"Hands off the computer, now!"
The officers leveled their guns at Mitchell, barking orders.
"It's over," Mitchell thought, his face paling.
He knew immediately that he'd been outmaneuvered by a top-tier expert. The expert had clearly anticipated his move and "helpfully" called the police on him.
The officers' forceful entry suggested the expert had already submitted evidence of his crimes to the authorities.
"Damn it!"
"Twenty years of getting away with it, and now I'm finally caught."
"Should never have stirred up trouble in China in the first place."
Mitchell's face twisted in frustration.
He'd caused trouble in China many times before without consequence. But in recent years, as China's national strength grew, the risks of such activities had increased.
China's cybersecurity agencies were now formidable.
He'd been careful enough, yet still ended up getting caught.
"Take him away!"
Mitchell was quickly handcuffed and led away.
***
Mitchell's apprentice was still leading his subordinates in the attack, unaware that Mitchell had already been taken down.
Lin Chen easily identified them and found plenty of incriminating evidence on their computers. However, he couldn't find any connection to the Tianhe Group.
Zheng Qingshan and his associates weren't foolish.
Hiring hackers for an attack was a shady operation, and they would have taken precautions to avoid leaving any traces.
*Should I use hacking to target the Tianhe Group?*
The thought crossed Lin Chen's mind.
But he quickly dismissed it. With his skills, he could probably get away with it, but it was better to stick to legitimate methods.
Using hacking was a double-edged sword.
While it could quickly deal with enemies, how would others perceive him if he did?
Even without concrete evidence, suspicion would linger.
Everyone had their secrets.
If he used hacking against others, would those super-rich individuals and officials become wary of him?
Targeting hackers with such methods was acceptable, but using them against others would be excessive.
"Fine. Let's play this game slowly."
"The joy of battling others is endless!"
Lin Chen muttered to himself.
He closed his laptop and left the study.
Lin Xiaoqian looked up at him and said earnestly, "Daddy, I don't understand this problem. Can you teach me?"
Lin Chen sat down on the floor beside her. He glanced at the problem and realized that Lin Xiaoqian was already working on problems for fifth and sixth graders—and they were even Olympiad math problems.
Most sixth graders couldn't solve such problems.
"Qianqian, where are you stuck?" Lin Chen asked.
"Daddy, this part—"
Lin Chen quickly explained the problem to her. Lin Xiaoqian suddenly understood. "Daddy, I get it now! Am I really stupid, Daddy? I can't solve so many problems."
Lin Chen's expression turned strange. She wasn't even three years old, yet she was already nearly finished with sixth-grade Olympiad math. If she was stupid, he must have been a blockhead back then.
"Qianqian, you're not stupid at all," Lin Chen said, kissing her cheek. "When I was your age, I wasn't nearly as smart as you. You'll be amazing in the future."
"Mhm," Lin Xiaoqian replied.
"Daddy, I want to be as amazing as you."
"Okay, Qianqian. Let's try a similar problem to the one we just did. You solve it."
"Okay!"
***
At Xu Group, Manager Li breathed a sigh of relief.
The enemy's attack was over.
But Manager Li was puzzled. The attack had ended as abruptly as it began, with no trace left behind.
Little did he know that enemies had already infiltrated the server, only to be trapped in the Honeypot System Lin Chen had set up.
And now, these enemies had been caught.
"President, I need to report something to you—"
Manager Li briefed Xu Mengyao on the day's events.
After listening to the report, Xu Mengyao said, "Manager Li, you've worked hard. Don't touch that system in the backend; it likely played a significant role."
"Yes, President."
Manager Li withdrew.
Xu Mengyao dialed Lin Chen's number. "Honey, the company server was attacked again today—"
When she finished, Lin Chen chuckled. "I've already identified these enemies. The local police have been notified. They'll be eating prison food soon."
Surprise flashed in Xu Mengyao's eyes. "Honey, how did you find them so quickly?"
Lin Chen replied, "Darling, you know me. You'll find out later—your husband is never slow."
Xu Mengyao: "..."
She playfully retorted, "Honey, you're still driving on that broken road."
Lin Chen chuckled. "Relax. My driving skills are far stronger than my hacking skills."
-----------------------
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(End of Chapter)