Chapter 201

201 I’ll Take It From Here
201 I’ll Take It From Here
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Inside the IT department building, the team from Nolan Group was in full–blown panic.
Sweat dripped down their foreheads as their systems were getting taken over, one by one. Half of their devices were already compromised, and they had no way to fight back.
The visiting teams from other countries, especially Ruritania, couldn’t stop mocking them.
“Heh… So this is what Chanaean tech looks like?” one of them sneered.
“Pathetic. You guys are getting stomped.”
Someone from Heswil chimed in with a laugh.
“Our team leader warned us to be careful of Chanaean programmers. I was nervous before we got here.”
“Right? And this is it? None of your so–called top players have even shown up.”
“Aren’t you guys supposed to be men? Giving up this easily?”
Another one smirked. “I heard you had some bigshot named Troy before. Guess he’s washed up now, huh? Otherwise, where is he?”
From the Molvania team, someone burst out laughing.
“We just locked down another system!
“I’m taking first place in this event–and I’ll make sure Chanaea knows how far behind they are.”
Back at the Nolan Group station, Janice was practically shaking.
Her laptop had just been locked out completely. She was furiously typing away, but nothing was working. Not a single line of code could run.
Chloe was still holding out on her end, but even her screen was starting to fill with glitches and corrupted code.
No matter how fast she worked, it wasn’t enough.
If she couldn’t regain control soon, the Molvania team would break through the firewall of the core system she was defending.
Once that happened, it would be game over.
“Chloe, you have to hold the line!”
Janice was almost in tears. Her eyes were red as she pleaded.
Chloe wanted to win, too–but things weren’t that simple.
Her keyboard was barely responsive at this point.
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She couldn’t afford to lose focus. There was no time to talk or even process Janice’s words.
“What do we do? Ms. Spencer isn’t here yet…
h
Some of the others in the IT team were getting anxious.
Even the company execs who’d come along were starting to whisper among themselves.
“I heard Alice Spencer is pretty skilled at this sort of thing,” one of them said.
“But maybe she realized how strong the foreign teams are and got scared off.”
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“Yeah, probably,” another added. “She can do whatever she wants at the company–but if she loses here, she’ll get all the blame.”
A third person nodded.
“Eric and Randall are neck–and–neck for that position. If Alice wants to avoid getting dragged into it, it makes sense for her to sit this one out.”
“She wasn’t forced to come anyway. Honestly, it’s probably smarter if she doesn’t.”
“If we lose, we’ll just have to take the fall. But if she were here, she’d take the heat instead.”
“She’s not showing up. I’d stay hidden too if I were her.”
“Look! Someone’s live–streaming this event–and it’s gone viral. Over ten million viewers already!”
“This is a PR disaster. Nolan Group is getting humiliated!”
Every single word cut straight into Chloe’s heart.
Her hands trembled. She hit the wrong key, and suddenly, part of her system was breached.
She froze. More cold sweat rolled down her face.
The lines of code on her screen were vanishing fast–erased, one after the other. She was losing control.
Tears welled up and spilled over, mixing with the sweat as they dripped onto the keyboard.
Then suddenly…
A hand reached out and gently stopped hers.
Chloe gasped and looked up, eyes still wet.
Alice’s calm, stunning face was right in front of her.
“Ms… Ms. Spencer…
“I’ll take it from here,” Alice said softly.
Her voice was quiet. No drama. No emotion. Just calm confidence.
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But it was enough to make Chloe tear up even more.
She stood up immediately to give Alice the seat.
Alice didn’t say another word. She sat down and got to work.
Across the room, the Molvania team scoffed.
“What, the older chick couldn’t handle it, so now they send in some baby–faced girl?”
They were referring to Chloe.
Chloe clenched her fists. She could hear every word, and her blood was boiling.
But something shifted. With Alice there, Chloe suddenly felt like there was hope again.
Her energy changed–more fire, more confidence.
She straightened her back and snapped back at them.
“Keep laughing, jerks. Let’s see how cocky you are when we beat you.”
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The Molvania translator passed the message along, and the team over there slammed their hands on the table.
“These Chanaeans are way too full of themselves. Forget mercy–crash their system now!”
“I was going to go easy on the pretty girl, but not anymore.”
“Eh, once we win, you’ll have your fun.”
Eric stood right behind Alice.
Hearing their crude comments made his face go dark with fury.
He looked at Daniel, who immediately stepped out, then came back quickly, handing over a folder with background files.
Eric checked his watch.
“When this is over,” he said, “Make sure those guys never leave this building again.”
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