193. Fire-Moth Invasion
"Hmm~ it's a bit boring lately. I wonder where to go next? Ling, do you have any ideas?" Vill-V stretched.
Years had passed, and Vill-V had grown into a beautiful young woman. Her graceful figure, accentuated by her movements, possessed a captivating allure.
No wonder she was called a 'Great' Magician, 'Great' Engineer, or rather, 'Great' Mechanic—truly 'Great'! In every sense of the word.
Seeing Ling's lack of response, Vill-V grinned mischievously.
"You weren't spying on me, were you?" Vill-V asked.
[I've seen your body countless times already, I'm not interested,] Ling replied casually.
"...Then what were you doing just now?" Vill-V puffed out her cheeks, asking somewhat displeased.
[Thinking about the disaster that happened in Siberia not long ago.]
"Oh? You think something's fishy going on?" Vill-V recalled the official report, which stated that a small meteorite had fallen on the Siberian plains.
But according to Ling's calculations, the officially reported small meteorite size shouldn't be large enough to cause such a widespread disaster.
Half of Siberia was destroyed; that would be too terrifying for damage caused by a small meteorite fall.
Besides, after that incident, Siberia has been designated as a restricted area, prohibiting anyone from entering.
If it were just a simple meteorite impact, there shouldn't be this much trouble, right? And there's no news of wildfires happening nearby.
After hearing Ling's explanation, Vill-V also sensed something was amiss.
"It sounds like someone's hiding something." Vill-V immediately began searching for clues about the disaster.
Soon, she found some censored photos online, one of which featured a soldier's uniform with a strange symbol.
It looked like a...moth drawn to a flame?
"I remember that symbol; it's the logo of a multinational corporation, probably called the Fire Moth. It seems this company isn't as simple as it appears." Vill-V quickly found information about the Fire Moth.
A quick comparison confirmed it was indeed the same logo.
The official introduction mentioned it was just a multinational trading company, nothing more.
Vill-V began her investigation, but the Fire Moth's internal workings proved far more difficult to penetrate than she had imagined.
Before long, Vill-V found a great deal of 'criminal evidence.'
Arms dealing, human experimentation—the list was endless!
It felt like...
[Vill-V, don't investigate any further, it'll be very dangerous,] Ling warned her.
"Are you scared?" Velvet asked without hesitation, her flippant tone making Ling frown.
[It's not a matter of being scared or not; it's that your safety might be threatened. Listen to me, Vill-V.] Ling patiently advised.
"No way," Vill-V said without hesitation, with a lollipop in her mouth.
Ling sighed, offering no further advice, and began to consider his options.
He knew Vill-V quite well; once she became interested, she would relentlessly pursue the matter, unstoppable.
However, Vill-V's hacking skills were indeed exceptional. She browsed through the Fire Moth's database without being detected.
"Biological weapons, small nuclear weapons, missiles, and weapons of all types—this is definitely a terrorist organization!"
Vill-V muttered while flipping through the files.
This was comparable to some small countries. Was this organization really that brazen?
She also found a vast amount of human experimentation data. The densely packed files sent chills down Vill-V's spine. Just how many people had they killed?
In fact, upon seeing the extensive human experimentation data, Vill-V had already classified it as a terrorist organization.
Even the sealing off of Siberia was definitely related to the Fire Moth.
"Ling, I want to pull off something big!" Vervie said to Ling.
[You want to hack into their central control system?]
"You guessed it! However, the equipment here is somewhat rudimentary. Let's go procure some more." Vill-V acted immediately.
After about two days of preparation, Vill-V began hacking into the Fire Moth.
Soon, Fire Moth was in complete chaos. Vill-V had hacked the vast majority of computers, the only remaining icon on the screen being a pocket watch.
The watch's hands ticked slowly, the sound sending chills down everyone's spine.
Fire Moth immediately convened a high-level meeting.
"What's going on?!"
"It seems to have been hacked."
"Can you find the source of the signal?"
"Can't... the other party's address shows it's located all over the world."
Everyone fell silent. They hadn't expected such a terrifying hacker to exist.
The Fire Moth's personnel were top-tier talent, yet they were completely helpless against this hacker.
"A group attack?"
"That's a possibility."
'I'm alone.'
"..."
Suddenly, a line of large characters flashed on the screen at the back of the conference room.
"!!!"
Everyone stared in disbelief at the large characters on the screen, never expecting that even the headquarters conference room had been hacked.
'This is just to introduce me to you. I am V, remember that.'
Another line of large characters flashed by and then disappeared.
At the same moment, the Fire Moth returned to normal, as if everything that had just happened had never existed.
"Quick, strengthen security! Track down that person's whereabouts!"
The Fire Moth's higher-ups were furious. The enemy had already launched a full-scale attack, and they could only stand there helplessly.
Meanwhile, in front of the screen, Vill-V laughed heartily, disregarding her image.
Is this considered ridding the people of a scourge?
Fearing it would cause panic, after discussing it with Ling, they decided not to release the incriminating information for the time being.
However, they could set up a backup plan. If, unfortunately, she was caught, Vill-V would immediately release everything to the public.
Another month or so passed in the blink of an eye.
The leaders of the Fire Moth were once again seated in the conference room. This month, they had suffered five harassments from Vill-V, which had a significant impact on them.
The first step was to disable all communication devices in the conference room to prevent Vill-V from eavesdropping again.
As they were about to continue discussing how to resolve the situation, they suddenly noticed that a previously empty seat had been occupied.
Her face now showed a hint of anger. That person named 'V' had dared to intrude into her laboratory!
"...I wonder what Dr. Mobius thinks?" someone asked cautiously.
"What other way is there? Of course, I'll personally come and catch the culprit myself! With you bunch of good-for-nothings, you haven't caught the culprit yet after a month. What's the use of you?"
Mobius's words were undisguised, full of sarcasm.
"Ahem, Dr. Mobius, watch your words."
"Tch." Mobius scoffed dismissively.
"Then Dr. Mobius will lead this operation to capture 'V.' What are the opinions of the others?"
Everyone shook their heads. Most of them were top experts in the field of cybersecurity, yet they had been completely outmaneuvered by Vill-V, and were already filled with fear.
Seeing no one answer, the leader decisively slammed his hand on the table.
"Then it's decided."
...