Smarter Than You Are Those Who Cover Their Ears While Stealing a Bell

Xiang Qian pulled open the partition door of the small bar. The cabin on the other side was quiet; perhaps due to a sense of restraint, the few wounded soldiers had all closed their eyes to feign sleep.

Vector was huddled in the furthest corner, staring intently at a laptop. The sound of her fingertips lightly tapping the keys was the only movement in the room besides the hum of the engines.

"What are you doing?"

Xiang Qian's low inquiry startled Vector, making her jump.

"Writing the mission report." Vector kept her voice just as low, as if afraid of waking her sleeping comrades, while simultaneously sliding the laptop screen down without a trace.

Xiang Qian nodded nonchalantly. The Spear Bureau was a classified agency, and mission reports required strict confidentiality, so Vector's actions were not surprising.

"Your work in the Special Task Force is quite varied. Intelligence gathering and analysis, writing mission reports, and opening portals for tactical maneuvers when necessary. You're quite the talent!"

Vector's voice was dry as she gave a perfunctory reply: "I'm still a rookie; I wouldn't dare call myself a talent." She felt that Xiang Qian had a hidden meaning in his words, and his tone sounded a bit off.

"You're definitely a talent!" Xiang Qian held his glass and sat down next to Vector. "You said earlier that this joint counter-terrorism operation was your first field mission. How long have you been with the Special Task Force?"

Vector quietly nudged her computer to the side. "Less than a month... about half a month!" She wanted to brush him off and send him away quickly, but she was afraid of arousing his suspicion.

Xiang Qian nodded thoughtfully. "Your captain putting so much responsibility on the shoulders of a newcomer—she must think very highly of you."

"Is that so..." Vector eyed Xiang Qian, her heart racing as she tried to divert his attention. "I see you and our captain are quite close."

"Yes, I've known her for many years," Xiang Qian said. "Why do you ask?"

Vector hesitated, testing the waters. "I feel like you seem a bit afraid of our captain."

"Hmm?" Xiang Qian looked at Vector, seeing the burning fire of gossip in her eyes. "I get the feeling you're thinking about something inappropriate."

"I'm just... curious!" Although it was meant to distract him, Vector was genuinely curious—the way Xiang Qian interacted with the Weather Witch was highly unusual.

Xiang Qian was speechless. "You should use your curiosity elsewhere. For instance, you've been in the Special Task Force for over half a month; aren't you curious why your captain is called 'Sky Team'?"

"Isn't it because of her nickname, 'Weather Witch'?"

Xiang Qian chuckled. "You really don't know. The nickname is only half the reason."

"Then what's the other half?"

Xiang Qian took a sip of his drink, feigning mystery, and only spoke when Vector gave him an impatient look. "The other half of the reason is her real name—Xiang Tian."

"Xiang..." Vector was shocked, instinctively pointing a finger at Xiang Qian. "Just like your..."

Xiang Qian understood. "Yes, just like my 'Xiang'." He leaned in as if sharing a secret. "She is my older sister. We've known each other for twenty-seven years."

Vector's face burned—she was embarrassed by her earlier gossiping thoughts.

"Didn't you ever ask for her real name after joining the Special Task Force?"

Vector shook her head awkwardly. "I didn't dare ask. The Captain... she's a bit strict, and quite mysterious. I didn't have the nerve."

"Yeah, she's been fierce since she was a kid," Xiang Qian said, still feeling a lingering sense of dread.

The two fell silent.

Vector watched Xiang Qian, who seemed intent on lingering there, and felt increasingly guilty. After hesitating for a long while, she bit the bullet and tried to shoo him away. "Xiang... Consultant Xiang, I still need to finish my report..."

"Oh, oh..." Xiang Qian feigned realization, but looked back at Vector with a half-smile. "Besides writing reports, checking intelligence, and opening portals, you should also be responsible for electronic warfare during operations when necessary, right?"

Vector guiltily pressed her hands onto the laptop on her lap. "How did you know?"

"It's simple. This computer you're using was designed for the Bureau by the Five Elements Laboratory." Xiang Qian's smiling gaze made Vector even more flustered. "It has specifically enhanced requirements for electronic intrusion, signal monitoring, and data theft."

Vector's expression turned to one of horror. She looked up at Xiang Qian and realized he wasn't joking, so she instinctively looked down at the laptop under her palms, feeling as if she were holding a hot potato.

An embarrassed flush covered Vector's beautiful face. She wondered whether she should try to confess for leniency, but Xiang Qian didn't give her the chance to surrender.

"I've been rambling with you for so long—have you actually managed to breach my firewall yet?"

"Ah!" Caught in the act, Vector shrieked. She pressed both hands firmly onto the laptop—the evidence of her crime—her face turning bright red from a mix of embarrassment and anxiety.

Under Xiang Qian's gaze, Vector spent a long three seconds in silence. She didn't dare meet his eyes, glancing around shiftily, only to find that the few comrades who had been feigning sleep had all quietly opened a slit in their eyes to peek.

Vector cast a desperate look of distress toward her comrades, and then... those men all instantly fell back into a deep sleep the moment they caught her eye.

"I, I didn't..." Vector's face was beet red.

"Didn't what? Didn't mean to?" A malicious smile spread across Xiang Qian's face. "The intrusion program started automatically, right?"

"No... I actually..." Vector stammered.

"Actually just wanted to play a joke?" Xiang Qian finished the excuse for her. "That kind of excuse is very unconvincing." He mercilessly cut her off, cornering the young girl against the wall.

"I'm sorry, I was wrong." Vector's voice was quieter than a mosquito's.

"And do you know where you went wrong?" Xiang Qian remained unmoved. "The computer you're using was designed by me; the underlying architecture of the intrusion program was written by me; the satellite direct-link signal that provides your intrusion path is maintained by the Five Elements Laboratory; even this wireless signal amplifier you secretly installed on the bar's partition door was manufactured by the Five Elements Laboratory."

Xiang Qian tossed a signal device smaller than a tie clip to Vector.

Vector was on the verge of tears. With every word Xiang Qian spoke, her face grew redder and her head bowed lower. Before he could finish, the girl's face felt like it was on fire, and she was nearly burying her head between her feet.

"As a hacker, your performance is truly unprofessional," Xiang Qian continued to rub salt in the wound. "You didn't do any investigative preparation before launching the attack; you were hot-headed and acted on a whim. The moment you launched the attack, the terminal server providing your computing power sent a warning message to my computer."

"Didn't expect that, did you? In the Spear Bureau's terminal servers, the security clearance of my tablet is much higher than your laptop."

"You're holding a club but hit your own foot; it's like a thief picking a lock, only to open the door and find themselves inside a prison—saving the police officers a lot of trouble." Xiang Qian didn't mince words, his constant "yada, yada, yada" delivering a harsh verdict on Vector's actions. "Compared to you, the person who covers their ears while stealing a bell is a genius."

Vector was both ashamed and angry, secretly grinding her back teeth. The young girl finally understood why so many people in the Bureau disliked Xiang Qian.

Why am I standing here listening to this Living Hedgehog drone on and on?

Why is the flight deck made of alloy? I can't even pry a piece off. If only I could gouge a hole and jump out, that would be great.

Could I just open a portal and teleport myself away?

"You're just flaunting the fact that your clearance is higher than mine," the young girl retorted, unconvinced.

Xiang Qian chuckled in spite of himself. "That's right, my clearance is higher than yours. That's because the entire electronic information system and security protocols of the Spear Bureau were designed under my leadership. Hmm... including that laptop in your hands; I'm the one protecting its system, too."

Vector was about to retreat into her shell again.

"Not convinced? Do you feel like your technical skills are top-notch, and losing to system clearance is no fault of your own?" Xiang Qian continued to tease the girl, his tone laced with mischief.

Vector puffed out her cheeks, turned her head away, and refused to speak.

"In electronic warfare, hardware determines the floor, while technique and software determine the ceiling," Xiang Qian said, speaking to himself. "Most people's thinking always prioritizes individual skill, but they never stop to consider that hardware level is actually the foundation of electronic warfare."

"No matter how high a hacker's skill is, if your absolute ceiling can't even touch the threshold of my floor, what right do you have to launch an attack?" Xiang Qian dropped his previous sarcastic tone, sounding more like he was intentionally offering guidance.

Vector, of course, understood everything Xiang Qian was saying. High-level hackers always kept a large number of "zombies" at their disposal, and official "red hackers" like Vector had no shortage of supercomputers to assist in their attacks.

But... she still didn't want to hear his voice!

"Didn't you say I was bullying you by flaunting my higher clearance?" Xiang Qian handed his tablet to Vector. "Why don't you see for yourself? Even if I were to lift my restrictions, could you break through my firewall with that piece-of-junk laptop in your hands?"

Vector's lingering anger hadn't faded, but looking at the tablet handed to her, she couldn't help but feel an itch of curiosity. For a technician, high-end gear she hadn't used before held immense temptation—even just touching it for a moment would be satisfying.

After a brief internal struggle, Vector finally couldn't resist taking the tablet. She opened it, and her pretty face flushed red instantly.

The window flashing on the screen was clearly an intrusion program interface, with familiar command lines scrolling through it.

Vector didn't need to look closely to know that this was her own handiwork.

So, after all that effort, not only had she failed to breach his firewall, but she had been monitored in return...

"The design of the command strings and the choice of attack paths were actually quite inspired," Xiang Qian offered a perfunctory consolation.

Vector gritted her teeth, poked the intrusion interface shut with a finger, and began to examine the tablet's system. As the data appeared before her eyes, her surprise grew with every line.

"Well? Do you still think the 'technique-first' theory is correct?" Xiang Qian asked with a smile.

Vector set the tablet down and shook her head, feeling utterly defeated.

The hardware level of this single tablet was nearly on par with a large-scale server. Combined with the technical prowess of Xiang Qian and the Five Elements Laboratory in electronic security systems, no hacker could break into this small tablet without the aid of a supercomputer.

At the very least, Vector knew she couldn't do it.

"It's not just the hardware itself. Through a direct satellite signal, I can access the computing power of the laboratory's supercomputer at any time. You should know that the Five Elements Laboratory's supercomputer is even more advanced than the Spear Bureau's central server."

Xiang Qian looked at Vector with a charming smile, his true intentions finally revealed:

"Would you like to go see it?"