Hidden Assassin 159

## Volume 3: Cohabitation Era – Chapter 6: Azure Sky Below – Section 159: School Anniversary

May 2nd, sunny. The second day of the holiday, also the day Sacred Heart Academy held its anniversary celebration.

From the morning, all sorts of brand-name sports cars, under the flamboyant display of red banners, streamed into the gates of Sacred Heart Academy. They gathered at the small plaza outside the parking lot, with the voices of reunited friends rising and falling. Though Sacred Heart Academy’s history wasn’t very long, it had always been positioned as the top aristocratic academy in Jiang Hai City. It attracted numerous rich children, so this anniversary event was akin to a reunion of the younger generation who held the reins of Jiang Hai City’s economy, after they stepped out of school.

The old school, old classmates, old memories, the girls they used to like and the hazy romances of the past, no matter what, once people looked back from a certain point, memories always adorned them with beautiful embellishments. Groups of three or two chatted and laughed, talking about their current situations and the past, showing their newfound maturity in front of their female classmates they hadn’t seen for a long time — though, not in the way you might think… They sought out their old classrooms, reminiscing about their past seating arrangements. Of course, some heirs of powerful families or beautiful women with both elegance and substance would receive all sorts of attention. For instance, “Junior, we used to sit at the same desk,” or “Senior, we used to use the same classroom,” or “We used to have the same teacher,” and so on, endlessly.

For these graduates, the purpose of this anniversary celebration was to recall past glories, forge more friendships in Jiang Hai’s upper circles, and build connections. But for the school, the purpose was clear: to get people to donate money. This was probably already anticipated by everyone, and it was justified with a fancy name: “Support School Facility Construction.”

Naturally, even if they were both willing, and there was a tacit understanding between them, they still had to do their part. For this day, the school opened all its facilities, prepared a grand gala dinner— the fact that they invited a singer like Fang Yusi showed how much the school valued this event. During the day, many clubs also held their own activities, showcasing their extracurricular research results and inviting graduated seniors to provide guidance.

For example, the Model Airplane Club members started testing their homemade models on the playground, and the Computer Club launched a competition of “Defense Against the Dark Arts” and Command & Conquer. The Chemistry Club designed a complicated chemical reaction model that took up half of the classroom. The Martial Arts Club originally intended to have a few friendly matches with some alumni, but Xun single-handedly disrupted everything. Their plans were put on hold for the time being.

Of course, all these activities were purely for fun. If they became too serious, they might not achieve their desired effect. In that sense, this anniversary celebration could be considered a success. In the morning, more than half the models that were tested crashed. One smashed through a classroom window, and another snapped an electric cable. It caused a small-scale fire on the edge of the forest behind the school. After it was put out, everyone felt a little exhilarated. Burning down the school, how wonderful…

Around ten o’clock, an unexpected accident occurred with the Chemistry Club’s strangely complex chemical reaction apparatus. A few test tubes and beakers exploded, followed by flames erupting from one end, sending everyone scrambling in panic. Fortunately, it was all right in the end. From a purely commercial perspective, these stunts attracted a large crowd of onlookers who were excited to discuss it. Very successful, very awesome, but it was hard to say if the people involved were happy about it.

Under these circumstances, the Martial Arts Club was the most impressive. After dozens of main members got injured, Chen Gu Xia made his first public appearance. They say that even with the combined forces of more than ten core members from all the previous years, they were still beaten to a pulp. This event pushed the anniversary atmosphere to a new high, drawing almost a thousand people to watch. Afterwards, some suggested that Chen Gu Xia fight Xun, who had been making trouble a few days ago. However, Chen Gu Xia was arrogant, and knowing Xun’s background, he naturally wouldn’t fight a junior.

Around two in the afternoon, the Computer Club caused a stir with something. A fierce hacking competition was in progress, and some graduates who had joined the IT industry returned to participate with great enthusiasm. A chubby guy from another school came to watch and, out of ignorance, said something that led to ridicule and debate. Naturally, the next step was to prove themselves with action. The chubby guy commandeered a computer, and started showing everyone his computer style.

Within ten minutes, this chubby guy named Fu Yan Jie had routed the first batch of challengers. In the next twenty minutes, he defeated two more batches. This wasn’t anything special, as these were professionals. But when the fourth batch, rumored to be very powerful, came on, the chubby guy proposed to hack into a top-notch hacker website abroad. After choosing the target and getting ready, the onlookers, both amateurs and experts, were pumped up. The excited crowd grew bigger and bigger.

Although computers weren’t widespread in China at that time, everyone here came from well-off families, so they needed to know about high-tech things, whether for bragging or showing off. They understood, more or less, how much envy hackers inspired, basically equivalent to assassins in the real world. Most people couldn’t comprehend the more technical aspects, but when it came to hacking into a top-notch foreign hacker site, it reached a level of national holy war in some minds. After all, Chinese computer technology was lagging behind, so they wouldn’t lose face if they lost, but winning would be immensely satisfying. While the chubby guy contacted his friends for help, some entry-level hacking enthusiasts started spreading hacking knowledge among the crowd.

The targeted hacker website was called “Carmen,” quite famous in Europe and America. It had a large number of skilled hackers on it. Rumor had it that some of them had even specifically hacked a few Chinese websites. There was also a very mysterious internet queen. Last fall, she was said to be in a bad mood and had consecutively taken down the world’s most famous hacker websites. She seemed to have recovered a bit by the beginning of this year, occasionally posting on “Carmen.” It was said that in her post from the beginning of the year, the wicked queen expressed interest in China, giving herself a Chinese name: Lu Kai Kai. The meaning was unclear.

According to some speculations, if the hacking attack really attracted the attention of this bad-tempered internet queen, only Bai Xue Gong Zhu (White Snow Pig), who had only briefly appeared on the internet a few months ago, could possibly match her in China. Of course, that was merely blind speculation. Bai Xue Gong Zhu had only carried out a few attacks that had a huge impact online. No one had ever seen him make a real move.

Looking at the chubby guy’s figure and his bragging with spittle flying everywhere, many people had started to guess: Could this guy be Bai Xue Gong Zhu… No…

A moment later, the hacking competition began. The real Bai Xue Gong Zhu, Gu Jia Ming, was surfing the internet in a room less than one hundred meters away from the activity room. Ya Han, looking somewhat exhausted, sat quietly beside him, occasionally glancing at the screen and then at his face.

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“You have dark circles under your eyes.”

“I know…”

“Have you been too tired these days?”

“Um, I’ve been hosting the gala events.” Ya Han rubbed her eyes, “I didn’t sleep well last night…”

“Take a nap now.” Jia Ming pointed to the long sofa in the office, “Have all the school staff died? Making a little girl do all this work.”

“You’re the little girl!” Ya Han laughed and shoved Jia Ming, her elbows resting on the desk as she propped her face up, looking very cute, “You get paid for what you do, and besides, I like the feeling of being busy. I’m usually not tired. Just lately, I’ve been thinking about some things.” She looked at Jia Ming, but ultimately didn’t say anything more.

Jia Ming raised an eyebrow, “Humph, pining… Haven’t you confessed to the person you like yet?”

“No… Sigh, I really shouldn’t have fallen for him…”

“Every time we talk, you say the same thing. You sighed so many times like this over Christmas. That’s why I don’t want to chat about this topic with you. You always say the same things… You’re a blockhead.” Jia Ming rolled his eyes at her. Since Christmas when Ya Han had hinted that she liked someone but was afraid to confess, Jia Ming had tried to encourage her a few times, but it didn’t seem to have any effect. Sometimes, it even made Ya Han “inexplicably” angry. Now, he was too lazy to say anything more.

“I am a blockhead… I’m a pig…” Ya Han sighed dejectedly, looking at him for a long time. Then, she turned her gaze back to the screen, no longer intending to argue with this blockhead about this, “I said, why are you chatting in German? I can’t understand anything. You’re using my computer to chat with someone secretly while Ling Jing and the others are gone… Come clean, is she a beautiful woman?”

“Of course, it’s so you can’t understand. She’s not just a beautiful woman, she’s also slutty and outgoing…” Jia Ming laughed, “Go to sleep now, I’ll wake you up at five.”

“No! I tell you, don’t use those words around ladies… Ouch… Ouch… Ouch… Ouch…”

Just as she was stubbornly arguing, Jia Ming grabbed her hair and pulled her to the sofa, throwing her down, “Don’t be noisy. You’re making it impossible for me to talk to beautiful women normally. Sleep well, I’ll wake you up at five.”

He took off his jacket and threw it over Ya Han’s legs. He then turned on the air conditioner and adjusted the temperature up a few degrees. Ya Han must have been tired, too, because she mumbled a few words and kicked off her high heels, “No, I have to get up at four.”

“Okay.” Jia Ming nodded and sat back down at the computer, “I’ll wake you up at five.”

“Humph, you can’t understand a simple request…” She muttered in a huff, then laughed again. She lay down on the sofa and closed her eyes peacefully.

On the other side of the computer, the one chatting with Jia Ming through the internet was “Fate’s Daughter,” Kelly? Fernum.

— Be careful, I’ve almost finished learning Chinese. Since I know you’re in China, I might be able to track you down sometime. Beautiful teacher, I’ll have fun with you then, alright.

— As long as you can handle it, I’m happy to play.

— Ah, little Kelly may not have her hymen anymore, but she’s still a virgin in these matters. You have to teach little Kelly properly, beautiful teacher… By the way, do you want to know what the seventy billion is for?

— I don’t need to know.

— Actually, I’ve always thought you must know my real origins, beautiful teacher. Including the Vatican’s secrets and the details of the creation miracles?

— It’s just about the biochemical experiments on supernatural beings. I know everything. Do you want to know more?

— Hehe, no wonder you gave so much money to little Kelly, beautiful teacher. Don’t worry, brave little Kelly will manage on her own… Oh, something came up, a friend’s website is under attack.

— Then, goodbye.

— Don’t go, little Kelly wants to talk to you, beautiful teacher. By the way, that girl named Natalie? Annes, she’s the first friend I’ve made in all these years. She has the same feeling as me. Once, little Kelly wanted to offer herself to her, but then I thought of you, beautiful teacher, and little Kelly bravely resisted the temptation. I think you’ll give little Kelly a great reward, right? …

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At 3:30 in the afternoon, before Carmen website could react, Fu Yan Jie exploited the vulnerability created by the opponent’s attacking force and sneaked into Carmen’s internal system. He opened a backdoor and, to demonstrate his power, with the help of his companions, he simultaneously hacked into all the computers in the same activity room. Then, he gloriously connected the school’s surveillance system to these computers, replacing the operating interface. After receiving the attention of the crowd like a hero, he started to expand his influence throughout the campus with some excitement, targeting the family quarters, the faculty…

Three minutes later, a counterattack came from Carmen website, but our Fu Yan Jie didn’t show any fear. He launched a two-pronged attack with extreme force. Of course, the school’s defenses were quite weak.

Therefore, in the room where Ya Han was soundly asleep, Jia Ming furrowed his brow in a troubled way… Someone was trying to take control of his computer…

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