By the next morning, every word I spoke felt like it echoed in someone else's headset.
The league's investigation had gone quiet—too quiet.
That meant Lin Jie was cleaning up.
I spent the day smiling for the cameras, nodding through briefings, pretending to be calm.
Under the surface, I was rewriting the plan.
---
21:00 — Encrypted Channel: "ShadowNet"
> Me: The league's firewall still holds. I can't trace him directly.
Lao K: Then don't. Make him come to you.
Me: That's risky.
Lao K: So's everything worth winning.
He sent a new string of code.
> Lao K: Dummy protocol. Looks like a patch request from ECLIPSE servers. When he touches it, we get his fingerprint.
I stared at the script—simple, elegant, bait wrapped in logic.
"You wrote this?" I asked during our call.
He laughed softly. "Don't sound so surprised. I do more than play support."
---
ECLIPSE Headquarters — Midnight
Luna glanced up from her monitor. "What are we doing?"
"System maintenance," I said.
Ashen frowned. "At midnight?"
"Trust me."
For once, he didn't argue.
I loaded Lao K's dummy patch into our secondary drive, then watched the network pulse.
One green light after another.
Then, a flicker.
A new IP pinged back—league server, Level 7 clearance. Lin Jie's domain.
Hooked.
"Got you," I whispered.
---
Hours later, the log filled with a perfect imprint of Lin Jie's digital signature.
Enough to prove the breach came from his side, not mine.
All I had to do was hand it over.
Except… if I did, he'd know I'd traced him.
And he'd go underground before the league could act.
So I waited.
---
Private call — 03:40 a.m.
"Still awake?" Lao K's voice was low, rough with fatigue.
"Barely," I said. "But it worked. He bit."
"You sure you want to hold the proof?"
"If I hand it in now, he buries the rest. I need to find what else he's hiding."
He paused. "Then I'll keep the original file. If you disappear, someone has to finish it."
That single word—disappear—made my pulse hitch.
"I won't," I said quietly.
"I know," he replied. "But I like insurance."
A long silence followed, heavy but not uncomfortable.
Somehow, even through static, I could hear him smile.
---
The Next Morning
Lin Jie arrived at Lyra Tower himself.
Polished suit, thin smile, all charm.
"Miss Qin," he said, "such unfortunate timing with these accusations. I do hope you're not… overreacting."
He offered his hand.
I took it—steady, polite.
"Overreacting isn't my style," I said. "I prefer precision."
His smile faltered just slightly.
Game on.
---
✨ End of Chapter Thirteen — "Shadow Protocol."
---