Top Secret Project

Even though Jay had a psychological expectation for the terrifying level of the mysterious enemy he might face, when he saw the missile, dragging a dazzling trajectory, charging ferociously towards the window of the Daily Planet building, he once again re-evaluated the enemy's power.

In broad daylight, who would just casually throw a missile through someone's window from afar? Could this get any crazier?

Well, perhaps as a novice, he was a bit careless. Bringing an unknown USB drive to the Daily Planet was probably only a slightly worse idea than bringing it home. If Helena found out, he'd surely get a lecture. But that was something to reflect on later; he had a much more pressing issue to deal with now.

When he snapped out of his shock, he had less than a second to react before the missile flew through the window. The burning, long trajectory smashed the windowpane and charged into the room with unparalleled kinetic energy. Jay's pupils contracted sharply, he suddenly stood up, and at the instant the warhead flew in, he raised his palm and caught it with one hand.

The supersonic missile was forcibly stopped in an instant, its engine sputtering flames wildly at the rear. The spiraling red-hot airflow blasted back violently, and a scorching hurricane swept through the entire room. All the papers and documents on the desks that weren't weighed down were sucked up, spinning wildly in the airflow like clothes thrown into a washing machine. White papers instantly flew everywhere, like a heavy snowfall.

The missile, suspended in mid-air, was like a bull restrained, stubbornly and powerfully trying to break free. Jay's fingers sank deep into the warhead's outer casing, deforming it severely.

After a stalemate of about ten seconds, the propulsion system of this heat weapon seemed to have finally exhausted its last bit of energy. Jay felt the thrust from his palm weaken bit by bit, the exhaust flames gradually extinguished, and the missile released its final strength, lying limply in his hand like a deflated ball.

Just as Jay was about to breathe a sigh of relief, he immediately realized that things weren't over yet. He could feel the heat weapon's gray-white casing beneath his hand still stirring, emitting radiation invisible to the naked eye, like a dam about to burst.

Without giving him much time to think, Jay turned into an afterimage and shot out of the shattered window, accelerating to the fastest speed he could achieve. He then threw the toy in his hand with all his might. The missile, its metal casing twisted and deformed, spun like a club high into the air, disappearing into the sky in an instant. The dazzling fireball erupted at an altitude of several hundred meters, and the thunderous, muffled explosion reached Jay's ears a moment later.

It seemed to have quite considerable power.

He floated in the air, wiping his completely dry forehead with his sleeve, and took two deep breaths. It wasn't that the missile itself could harm him; he was tense because he had never encountered such an absurd situation. His mind went blank for a moment, and he found it difficult to put his wildly beating heart back in place.

How could anyone stay calm after this? Someone had just thrown a missile powerful enough to blow up a floor through his window!

Jay spent about ten seconds cooling his burning brain, which he considered quite efficient for someone experiencing this for the first time. He flew back into the office and pulled the USB drive out of the old desktop computer's chassis. The red indicator light on the USB drive's casing finally stopped blinking. It was likely that a tracking system was hidden inside, which was the culprit that had summoned the remote strike just now.

But he had to admit, this made the contents of the USB drive and the entire incident seem even more mysterious. The missile that suddenly appeared outside his window piqued Jay's curiosity, making him unable to stop imagining what this "S.D.E. Project" was, and who would go to such lengths for it.

Then, the remaining problem fell upon General Simon Gilson.

He hoped the general could provide some answers.

As for how to find General Simon Gilson? Well, that naturally required the help of a professional.

"Gilson? Is that his name?" Helena, sitting in front of a computer in a certain base, answered Jay's call while already searching for the name on her computer. "Let me see… Found him. A retired officer, fifty-seven years old. I'll send his relevant information to your phone now."

"Thanks," Jay said. "You've been a great help."

"But what do you need this person for?" Helena asked. "Is there anything noteworthy about him?"

"Um, a little. I'm still investigating some clues. I'll contact you again when I have results."

After saying that, he hung up. His voice sounded quite urgent, and Helena guessed he must have made some extraordinary discovery. She put away her phone, her gaze returning to the screen in front of her, and brought up the interface Jay had interrupted earlier.

S.D.E. Project.

When Helena started investigating using the internal network here, with Kairi International Creative Company as a starting point, a whole slew of electronic locks requiring high-level access popped up on her interface. After spending several hours bypassing this pile of troublesome security protocols, the project mentioned above appeared on her screen.

Her intuition told her she had found the right place. Helena double-clicked to try and open the project, but another warning bar, marked in prominent red, popped up in front of her. A password field appeared in the center, prompting her to enter a password, with a hint below: "Warning! Top Secret! All access requires Level 1 authorization!"

In theory, she should have stopped herself when this prompt appeared, otherwise, it could have led to very serious consequences, and "serious" here didn't just mean ordinary organizational reprimands. But the more it was like this, the more it ignited her desire to climb over the wall and explore the forbidden zone. She checked to her left and right to make sure no one was paying attention, and sneakily pulled out a portable hacking device from her utility belt.

Most of her equipment was provided by government agencies, but this one was different. It was a device personally programmed and designed by a world-class hacker friend she knew, capable of cracking most firewalls in the world within a minute, almost equivalent to a universal key in the information world.

She connected the device to the organization's main computer, and the words "Cracking in progress" quickly appeared on the monitor. The green progress bar moved extremely slowly, occasionally freezing for ten seconds without moving, indicating that the opponent was also very difficult to deal with.

The green progress bar took nearly two minutes to finally reach its end. Helena held her breath, waiting for the words "Cracking complete" to appear on the screen, feeling an uncontrollable excitement and anticipation. However, that didn't happen. Just as the progress was less than a millimeter from completion, the entire green progress bar suddenly disappeared from her screen.

Helena was stunned; this was a situation she had never encountered before.

The computer monitor seemed to flicker, and a new warning prompt appeared on the big red warning bar, which read: "Warning! Unauthorized sensitive operation detected! Information has been automatically uploaded, please remain in place!"

Helena froze for a few seconds, then cursed, "Shit!"

She shut down the computer as quickly as possible, stood up abruptly, and walked towards the door without thinking. She quickly walked through the crowded corridors of the base, heading straight for the exit, but unexpectedly collided with her superior at the corner of the last corridor.

Victor Sage, a well-dressed, upright middle-aged man, his hair styled with pomade shining under the fluorescent lights, his hairline exaggeratedly high. The corners of his mouth were perfectly upturned, wearing a kind and incredibly friendly smile.

He was the highest-ranking person in charge here.

When Helena caught sight of him, she inwardly thought, "This is bad." She lowered her head, pretending not to see him, and tried to walk past. But this thought was completely dispelled when Victor called out, "Huntress."

Helena stopped in her tracks. When she turned back, her expression had changed to a cold, frozen look. "Yes, sir."

"You seem to be in a hurry," Victor said, walking forward with a smile and patting her shoulder. "Can you tell me where you're rushing off to?"

Victor was half a head taller than her, and at such close proximity, she had to look up slightly to meet his gaze. "Just found some clues to old cases, going to confirm them."

Helena believed her performance showed no flaws, not even a slight fluctuation in her heartbeat. Victor seemed to accept her explanation and nodded slightly, praising, "You've always worked hard, and I admire you very much, Huntress. You're one of my best agents..."

As he spoke, he casually walked around her, stopping behind her. He gently placed his hands on her shoulders, leaned close to her ear, and whispered in a voice only she could hear, "...but perhaps you're a little too good, even too much."

Helena felt her heart skip a beat, a momentary fluctuation.

"Are you sure," Victor continued in a voice as soft as a mosquito's, "you have nothing to hide from me, right?"

"Yes, sir," Helena replied in a steady tone.

"Very good," Victor nodded slightly, then moved back, his voice returning to normal. "Good girl."

"Then, sir, if there are no other instructions..."

"Oh, of course," Victor nodded. "You may go. Sorry to have delayed your business."

"It's alright."

Helena walked away with an impassive face, but the moment her back was to Victor, she gritted her teeth. She made herself walk the remaining distance down the corridor as calmly as possible, and the moment she entered the stairwell, she started sprinting.

She had seven floors to go down, but she didn't choose the elevator because that motorized little box could be controlled remotely and was easier to get cornered in. And her caution proved to be correct; the moment she descended one floor, two armed agents rushed into the stairwell side-by-side and opened fire on her without a word.

Helena braced herself on the stair railing and leaped, dodging the bullets while landing between the two agents like a professional gymnast. The two reacted quickly, but that still couldn't change the outcome of them being subdued by Helena within three moves. One of them had his leg bone broken by Helena's kick, and the other was thrown down the escalator by her over-the-shoulder throw.

"Sorry," Helena said, catching her breath, to the two of them, "but this isn't personal."