When Joshua came to find Ste, he discovered her still poring over business textbooks, teaching herself new strategies.


    Sunlight poured in through the window, spilling across her figure and casting her a luminous golden glow. She looked so serene, so radiant and warm-like a beacon in the darkness, quietly drawing others closer with her gentle light. Joshua paused in the doorway, unexpectedly caught off guard by the sight. Sensing movement, Ste nced up and met his slightly dazed gaze. "Joshua, is something wrong?"


    Her voice was calm and clear, smooth as a mountain stream. There was something about being with her that always put people at ease, inviting rxation without effort.


    He walked over to her side, noticing howposed she seemed-without a trace of agitation. Somehow, just being near her made his own turbulent thoughts begin to settle.


    "You don''t seem worried at all," Joshua remarked.


    Ste replied, "Honestly, I expected this oue. If things were perfectly quiet right now, I''d actually be uneasy."


    "Have you found the leak?" Joshua asked.


    She shook her head. “No. I suspect the person stealing our confidential files isn''t just bribing someone in our management. There must be another way in. The most likely exnation..."


    Her eyes flicked to theputer screen. "We''ve been hacked."


    Joshua frowned. "But didn''t Neville bring in that top-tier cybersecurity expert when we set up ourwork, just to prevent this exact thing? The guy builtyer afteryer of protection. He even guaranteed no one would crack his defenses for at least five years. We spent eight million dors on that system—and it''s only been a few months. I guess Neville''s expert wasn''t all he was cracked up to be."


    Ste cleared her throat, offering an exnation. Neville''s guy was supposed to be the best-ranked number one in the frete I checked his reputation myself; no one''s challenged his position for five years straight."  s


    Joshua gave a short, humorlessugh. "So he''s not only overrated, but also full of hot air."<fnf071> Official source is fι?dnοvel</fnf071>


    She hesitated. "... Maybe there''s always someone better out there."


    "What''s this hacker''s name?" Joshua pressed.


    "I don''t know his real name. I think he goes by the code name T."


    Joshua''s voice was cool and smooth, with just a hint of wry amusement. "T dropped to second ce about six months ago."


    Ste looked at him, surprised. "How do you know all this?"


    He shrugged, his expression unreadable. "He''s pretty famous in those circles."


    "I''m not too familiar with that world," Ste admitted. She paused, then ventured, "So... who''s number one now?"


    "Someone called Q, I think. The whole field''s a mess of ridiculous code names. Makes you wonder if twenty-six letters are even enough for


    all of them."  s


    Ste couldn''t help butugh.


    But as theughter faded, her expression grew more serious. "Even though this setback was part of my contingency n, it''s still a problem that Israel managed to hire someone this skilled. As long as they have this person, ourpany, secrets will always be at risk. What we need now is someone even better than Q."  s


    Fortunately, Ste still had some time. She''d already asked Lauretta Chapman to quietly look for someone who could help.


    After a brief silence, Joshua spoke up. "I know someone-an expert in this area. Maybe... we should let him take a shot."