Chapter 12: Prematurely Triggered Plotline
Stella District, inside a black armored vehicle.
Jonas propped his head lazily against his hand, watching the scenery flash by outside the window.
As if struck by a thought, he chuckled and asked:
“Miss Amane should have seen the video by now, yes?”
“An hour ago, an anonymous unauthorized user decrypted the content using ES-Xs decryption and left traces of access,” replied the girl named Eiffel, her hands on the steering wheel.
“If nothing went wrong, Miss Amane should have already witnessed your transaction with Ian Stella.”
“Ah, things just got troublesome…”
Though he said this, Jonas’ tone remained utterly indifferent.
Eiffel didn’t turn her head, mercilessly exposing him:
“Isn’t this exactly the outcome you wanted?”
The Vetting Conglomerate’s security systems wouldn’t be breached so easily… Adjusting the confinement room’s surface system security to E2-S encryption had been Jonas’ premeditated instruction.
In other words, the fruits of Amane Moko’s labor were merely the carefully laid trap Jonas had designed.
“I merely made some trivial contributions,” Jonas said, meeting Eiffel’s eyes through the rearview mirror without denying her words, smiling as he continued:
“The greater credit belongs to Miss Amane’s own efforts, don’t you think?”
“Your nature is truly despicable.”
Eiffel delivered her judgment without hesitation.
Manipulative, cunning, and deceitful.
In this incident, Jonas had perfectly demonstrated the qualities expected of a conglomerate’s mastermind.
Although the plan had not yet reached its final stage, Eiffel could already foresee the tragic fate awaiting Miss Amane Moko.
—How truly… pitiful.
The poor prey was ensnared in an intricately woven net, and by the time she realized something was wrong, it would already be too late…
“No matter how exquisite the trap, its sole purpose is to lure the prey inside…”
As if guessing Eiffel’s thoughts, Jonas spoke up:
“And to ensure the prey cannot escape once caught, traps are often layered one after another. From the moment the prey steps in, their doom is sealed.”
Eiffel paused at his words, then asked curiously:
“Is this also something you learned from documentaries?”
“Not at all.”
Jonas grinned: “This is just the self-cultivation of a capitalist.”
“…I think I’m starting to believe what you said earlier.”
Eiffel had confirmed one thing.
—This man named Jonas Vetting was a natural-born scoundrel.
“Perhaps no one is more suited to control the Vetting Conglomerate than you.”
Miss Eiffel Margarita, known as 【Butler】 Eiffel, offered her sincere praise.
…………………………………….
Three full days had passed since the riots in the Arte District.
The Vetting Conglomerate had minimized the incident’s impact, making it seem as though the turmoil had been completely quelled.
In reality, however, the ripple effects of the event had not entirely dissipated.
Vetting Conglomerate, Arte Branch.
Eiffel meticulously analyzed the losses incurred by the Arte District riots and placed a detailed report before Jonas.
“After the riot attacks, the server firewalls in the Arte District suffered significant damage…”
“This damage not only imposed a heavy maintenance burden but also attracted numerous hackers of unknown origin attempting to breach the firewalls. The cost of outsourcing cybersecurity experts is also substantial.”
The report in front of Eiffel presented highly detailed data, with most expenses allocated to the Arte Branch’s firewall.
After all, the Arte Branch’s database contained numerous critical documents. If compromised, the losses would amount to tens of millions of Credit Points.
During such a sensitive period, a major commercial misstep like this would inevitably be exploited by many.
In that case, Jonas’s entry into the board of directors would also be affected.
Yet allowing the firewall issue to drag on was not a wise decision either.
Most of the firewall maintenance costs were being covered by Jonas personally, with the majority of expenses deducted from his own accounts.
The longer this continued, the more money would be spent.
“How much longer until the firewall maintenance is complete?”
Jonas rubbed his temples as he asked.
“At this rate, at least twenty more days.”
Eiffel paused briefly before adding:
“Since the hackers’ attacks slow down the maintenance progress, unless we can guarantee the firewall repairs are completely unaffected by them, the timeline will only stretch further.”
But they were now relying on an outsourced team, where merely maintaining normal firewall operations was already extremely difficult. To resolve this issue, they would need to find a seasoned genius hacker… someone capable of defending the firewall with calculations in the hundreds of millions.
Such talent wasn’t absent within the Vetting Conglomerate, but the board members would be delighted to see him stumble—how could they possibly approve such a personnel transfer?
Clearly, Jonas was now caught between a rock and a hard place.
He rubbed his temples, racking his brain for a way out of this predicament.
After a moment, inspiration struck. His eyes lit up as if he had suddenly thought of something.
“Hacker… Right, how could I forget about her?”
——【Brain Melting Hacker】Elise.
Also the character who betrayed the original protagonist the most in the original storyline.
Though someone like her couldn’t be used with complete confidence, given the current circumstances, there was no room to worry about whether she’d turn traitor later.
Setting aside personal biases, Miss Elise’s talents were truly terrifying. Dealing with a hacking attack of this level would be child’s play for her.
And if memory served, the current Elise hadn’t yet been drawn into the plot.
Taking a deep breath, Jonas spoke up:
“Eiffel, prepare the car. I’m heading to the slums.”
It seemed he’d have to initiate the storyline involving this 【Brain Melting Hacker】Miss Elise ahead of schedule.
………………………………
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