Chapter 784
Emily waved her hand and said, “No. We believe you can definitely beat Weyne.” She thought, ‘Fabian’s team is recognized as the strongest. Only someone with a death wish would mess with them.
Aria knew they didn’t believe, but she didn’t care much. She said, “Alright, just let me know if you need me.”
The only one who truly believed in Aria, Cathy, grinned and said, “Don’t worry, I’ll ask when I need you.” She thought, ‘Aria
is our secret weapon.
‘Since things have just started, I can’t reveal the ace too soon, or the other teams might gang up and take us out early.
“Just lie low for now, and leave the rest to us,” Cathy said.
Aria glanced in the direction where Fabian’s team had disappeared and said, “They’re such a pain. If we run into them again, let’s just deal with them head-on.”
Cathy replied, “Taking out Weyne isn’t that hard, but the other four will try to drag us down with them and get us all kicked out of the team round.”
Aria asked, “Don’t you guys usually just wipe out the whole team in one go?”
The others were speechless.
Cathy explained, “Most teams are pretty evenly matched. If we try to wipe out the whole group, we’ll probably lose some of our teammates too, and then we’d get disqualified from the team round.”
In the observation hall, several veterans were watching the teams’ movements on the monitors.
“That girl’s pretty bold,” one of the veterans commented.
Tessa chuckled and said, “She’s used to flying solo, so her way of thinking is a bit different.”
Ned, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke up, “If she’s not willing to join the regular training, maybe she’s just not cut out for the State Security Bureau.”
Fillip immediately chimed in, “Yeah, but I heard she’s got some real talent for sketching portraits. If the police ever need that, we can send her over. Can’t just let her draw a paycheck for nothing.”
Tessa shot Ned a meaningful glance and said, “Looks like none of you are all that satisfied with Aria. Mr. Shaw, what do you think?” She thought, ‘Owen just dropped 30 million dollars on the Bureau, and they’re still nitpicking about his girlfriend.
Owen smiled and said, “If Ms. Langford hadn’t asked so many times, my girlfriend wouldn’t have even bothered coming. If you’re not happy with her, we’ll just leave after the competition.”
The State Security Bureau had always cherished talented people and never had a precedent of driving any members away.
A leader quickly stepped in to defuse the situation. He said, “If Tessa thinks highly of someone, any concerns can be discussed privately-there’s no need to air your doubts in front of everyone.”
Fillip’s face turned awkward. He said, “It was just a casual comment, nothing personal.”
The observation hall fell silent for a moment.
Owen turned to Ned and said, “I heard you’re the hacker who cracked the world’s most advanced encrypted firewall, Alpha?”
1/2
Chapter 783
Ned’s heart skipped a beat. He wasn’t sure if Aria had told Owen about his past. He forced himself to stay calm and said. “That was all a long time ago-nothing worth mentioning.”
Owen said with a smile, “You’re too modest. If you hadn’t broken into Riviera’s system back then, the people in that city would’ve been doomed. No one else could’ve pulled off what you did.”
Hearing that Owen wasn’t trying to test him, Ned relaxed a little.
Fillip jumped in at just the right moment. He said, “Let me tell you, it took everything I had to get Ned to join us back then.”
Owen said, “Seriously, Fillip, it was a miracle you even found Ned. No one even knew if Alpha was a guy or a girl”
Ned’s expression changed.
Tessa glanced at him and thought, ‘He really can’t keep his cool.
Fillip didn’t notice anything was off. He said, “Yeah, back then, everyone wanted to recruit Alpha. I was just lucky”
Ned couldn’t sit still any longer. After a while, he made up an excuse and headed back to his place. He made a call and asked “Did you find her?”