Chapter 111: Rebirth of the Tool Man in a Pampered Protagonist Novel

The Hua Country team had anticipated that their victory in the first individual competition would bring trouble, but they hadn’t expected retaliation to come so swiftly and blatantly.

The day after the individual competition, everyone followed Professor Yu’s instructions and stayed in their hotel rooms, not daring to wander around. However, even though they didn’t go out, trouble came knocking on their door.

Several uniformed investigators arrived, accompanied by a group of reporters.

“What are you saying? Last night, a hacker of Hua Country nationality allegedly infiltrated the classified archives of M, A, and H countries, and someone reported that this hacker is in our team? This is absurd!” Professor Yu was so furious upon hearing the visitors’ accusations that he lost his composure on the spot.

What did they mean by a Hua Country hacker infiltrating the confidential libraries of several countries last night? And what did they mean by saying that this hacker was now among their team members? This was clearly an attempt to frame them and prevent them from participating in the next day’s team competition!

They had known that some people involved in the competition were despicable, but they hadn’t expected them to be this shameless. These people had obviously been in a position of power for too long and thought they could do anything.

Although most of the team members did have hacker identities, such matters couldn’t be openly discussed. Moreover, while many of them were technically hackers, they hadn’t engaged in any particularly egregious hacking activities. Those who had been recruited by the country had passed strict background checks, and their secondary identities as hackers had been reported and cleared. If someone truly had a problematic character, the country would have exposed them, and no nation would take such a risk.

Of course, if there were someone who had slipped through the cracks, it could only be because their skills were so advanced that they had hidden themselves exceptionally well. But this was clearly an attempt to frame them!

The competition rules explicitly prohibited hackers with criminal records from being part of the competing teams.

Their enemies didn’t need to prove any crimes; they just needed to delay them long enough to miss the next day’s team competition. Even if they narrowly advanced, their ranking would be poor. Coupled with the previous bet, this tech competition would essentially be over for them.

While this wouldn’t affect the technology they had mastered, and they could still develop in the future, it would waste a lot of unnecessary time. It would also lead to a significant blow to their international image, making them vulnerable to open suppression and exclusion by M, A, and H countries.

This move was truly a ruthless, underhanded tactic.

The investigators who had arrived were clearly following orders, showing no interest in hearing any explanations.

“Professor, please remain calm. Nothing has been concluded yet. We are simply asking everyone to come in for an investigation. Last night’s hacking attack caused significant damage to M, A, and H countries. These countries’ teams are key contenders in this competition, and we have reason to believe that this attack was part of a targeted, shameless conspiracy.”

“According to an anonymous report, and based on the data left behind from the attack, the intruder’s methods closely resemble the new programming language your Hua Country has been using. Additionally, the anonymous report identified the intruder as someone called ‘Little Elf,’ who is reportedly the second-ranked hacker on your Hua Country’s Qianye Forum.”

The investigator presented a file, clearly well-prepared.

Professor Yu’s expression turned grim, beyond words. He couldn’t believe this was true—it was clearly a deliberate attempt to frame them. How could such a coincidence be anything else?

The other team members shared the same reaction; this was clearly an open conspiracy.

Of course, they knew who ‘Little Elf’ was. As members of the Hua Country’s tech community, they were all familiar with Qianye Forum. Although Little Elf had rarely appeared online after their initial rise to fame, their exploits and reputation were well-known within the forum.

Even though they hadn’t interacted much, Little Elf’s organization of a major online event back then, dedicated to supporting Hua Country, indicated a strong sense of patriotism. Usually, someone with such patriotism wouldn’t engage in something so reckless, especially at such a crucial and sensitive time.

These people were not only shameless but also slandering a figure they respected, which was utterly infuriating.

The investigator, ignoring the reactions around him, continued in a seemingly just and impartial manner, “All the evidence points to a connection with your team. We ask that you cooperate with the investigation. We won’t falsely accuse any innocent person, but neither will we let any suspect go unpunished.”

Nonsense! Such sanctimonious hypocrisy!

The team members were trembling with anger.

The technology competition’s live broadcast wasn’t limited to the matches alone. It also covered the daily lives of the participants from various countries, as well as unexpected incidents like this one, striving to maintain complete transparency so that the global audience could participate, evaluate, and supervise.

Now that the investigators were accompanied by reporters, the entire scene was being broadcast live.

As the shocking news reached viewers in different countries’ live streams, discussions erupted, and the number of viewers rapidly increased.

“What’s going on? The confidential libraries of M, A, and H countries were all hacked last night by the same person?”

“Even though Hua Country’s performance yesterday was impressive, pulling off something like this isn’t easy. Aren’t these three countries supposed to be tech giants? How could a single Hua Country hacker manage to breach their security?”

“Um… doesn’t this whole thing seem a bit fishy to you? Isn’t it just a little too coincidental?”

“Finally, someone said it. I was thinking the same thing—this seems way too convenient. Even if they were going to attack, why do it last night of all times?”

“Shh, better stay quiet for now, or you’ll get your account suspended. Coincidences like this aren’t unheard of. Remember last year when the G Country team had that unfortunate ‘accident’ with food poisoning right before the competition? ‘Accidents’ do happen when you least expect them, right?”

“It’s hard to say… But I’m really curious about who this Hua Country hacker ‘Little Elf’ is and what kind of skills they have to be dragged into this mess.”

“I’m curious too. If they’re being called out by name, they must have some serious skills, right?”

“I know about this! Let me fill you in… I have a friend from Hua Country who studies computer science. I just asked him about it, and it turns out that Little Elf is a top-tier hacker who emerged in Hua Country in the past couple of years. Although they’re only ranked second on Hua Country’s Qianye Forum, it’s said that’s just because they’re relatively new and low-key. Their actual abilities are on par with, if not better than, the top-ranked mysterious figure, Heavenly Scourge.”

“Those of you who spend a lot of time online might remember the network outages that happened in A Country and R Country two years ago, right? Those two countries were involved in a massive hacking battle that nearly turned them into mortal enemies.”

“But later on, both countries realized they’d been played. There was actually a third party involved in that ‘feast,’ and because their actions were so well-hidden, neither side noticed at first. After a long investigation, they finally identified and confirmed that the organizer of that event was this ‘Little Elf.’ However, by the time they tried to retaliate, Hua Country had already upgraded to a new security network, making it impossible to infiltrate, so they had to swallow their losses.”

“Wow, that’s impressive! I’ve heard that A Country’s defenses were top-notch at the time—like diamond level. And they still got played?”

“Exactly. And it’s rumored that Little Elf and Heavenly Scourge are a couple, a power duo. If last night’s intrusion really happened, it must have been the two of them working together; otherwise, it’s hard to believe one person could take on three major countries at once.”

“But were they really the ones who did it…? Would people this smart really choose such a sensitive time as last night to act, and then conveniently leave clues to get themselves reported?”

“…”

The reason this is called an “open conspiracy” is that it’s clearly a setup, but there’s nothing that can be done about it.

Not everyone in the world is gullible. While the citizens of the three “victimized” major countries might be genuinely outraged, the discussions in other countries’ livestreams are much more rational and clear-headed.

It’s obvious that Hua Country is facing an even more shameless tactic than the one G Country encountered last time.

At this point, it’s not just a matter of whether the Hua Country team is innocent or not—just undergoing an investigation would mean losing the points from the team competition. After all, how could the substitute players compete against the main team members from other countries? It’s a guaranteed loss.

It’s a shameless and despicable tactic, but it’s undeniably effective and still within the rules.

Unless the Hua Country team can immediately provide undeniable proof of their innocence, which is almost impossible.

And indeed, that’s the situation they’re in.

For ordinary people, proving it on the spot would indeed be impossible. But for someone with highly advanced reverse-tracking technology, it’s not that difficult.

Fang Ziyang subtly touched the bracelet on his wrist, a faint, almost imperceptible smile playing on his lips. Just as he was about to step forward, someone beat him to it.

“You say the suspected intruder’s code name is ‘Little Elf’?”

Xie Zheng strode out of the crowd, his cold and stern face radiating an intimidating aura. His calm voice, however, carried a commanding presence.

No one expected that before the members of the team could say anything, he would be the first to step forward.

Although Xie Zheng’s face wasn’t known worldwide, anyone with an interest in the financial world would be familiar with him. After all, before the collapse, the Xie Corporation was one of the world’s top-ranking conglomerates.

The investigators were a bit surprised by Xie Zheng’s sudden appearance, but they didn’t think he would have much impact on the situation.

“That’s correct. The intruder from last night left a data trail very similar to the one left by Little Elf, who previously participated in cyberattacks on Country A and Country R. We’ve received an anonymous tip claiming that Little Elf is currently in your Hua Country team, so we need your cooperation for this investigation.”

“Rest assured, we will get to the bottom of this and not wrongfully accuse anyone.”

The investigator spoke with a tone of unwavering conviction, as if he were truly upholding justice.

Upon hearing this, Xie Zheng let out a cold laugh.

“Is that so? Well, it just so happens that I know Little Elf personally. Since the whole world is watching this live broadcast, to avoid wasting unnecessary time on this investigation, why don’t I contact Little Elf right now? We can have a face-to-face confrontation.”

The moment those words left his mouth, the investigator’s expression froze for a split second—completely caught off guard by this turn of events.

Ignoring their reactions, whether they agreed or not, Xie Zheng took out his phone in front of everyone, opened his chat app, found Little Elf’s account, and sent a video call request.

In the dead silence that followed, the sound of Xie Zheng’s phone ringing with the video call request filled the air.

Suddenly, someone in the crowd’s phone began to ring.

Everyone immediately turned to look.

Fang Ziyang, who had no time to cancel the call: …

Husband, actually, I have another identity too.

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