"You!" Tyler Grant's face darkened. He strode over to Serena and stared at her for a moment before letting out a cold sneer. “Little girl, do you have any idea what the consequences are for messing around in a place like this? You think because you have a laptop and know a little programming, you're some kind of expert? This isn't your college computer club!"
Serena didn't even bother looking up, her eyes as cold as ice. Her fingers flew across the keyboard. "Right. You're the expert. So expert that after all this time, the core module is still blaring alerts, huh?"
The girl's flat, indifferent tone was even more mocking. It didn't just hit a nerve with Tyler; it struck a chord with every researcher in the room who had been working for over a dozen hours with minimal progress.
Tyler's face instantly turned beet red. “What do you know?" he retorted, mortified. "The fact that it could crash the national core research data proves how
sophisticated and powerful the attacker's methods are! Our team has been working at peak efficiency for seventeen hours straight and we still haven't completely solved the problem. You..."
“So,” Serena said without looking up, her finger hitting the enter key. A massive wall of complex commands scrolled across her screen. She finally lifted her gaze, her eyes cold. "If you're incompetent, you should own it."
Several of the younger researchers couldn't help but let out a snort of laughter.
Furious, Tyler clenched and unclenched his fists, then laughed coldly. "You're so capable? Then you do it!"
"The reason I'm standing here," Serena said, her eyes scanning her screen as the scrolling commands rapidly integrated with the control room's system, "is to solve problems."
Tyler scoffed. "Arrogant!"
Serena lowered her head and spoke again. "Sync the data and logs I requested. Now."
At that moment, an older researcher with white hair walked over quickly.
His gaze shifted between Serena and Nicholas Blackwood before settling on Serena. With a hint of barely concealed hope, he asked in a grave tone, "Are you certain... you can handle this?"
Serena's voice was calm. "As long as everyone cooperates and follows instructions, it shouldn't be a problem."
The old researcher gave Serena a long look, then glanced at her screen. The code was now scrolling so fast it was impossible to read, and the girl's typing speed was only increasing as if she were running a program.
His eyes sharpened. He addressed everyone in the core area, "From this moment on, everyone will provide their full cooperation. All questions can be addressed later!"
"Mr. Davenport!" Tyler's eyes
widened. You can't seriously believe her! What if she only knows the basics? If she messes up a single wi
data set, the care module Single
self-destruct, and then..."
"Tyler, the lack of sleep must have addled your brain," the old
researcher said shooting him a cold look "Since these two have clearance to be in the control room, it means they have permission from the Director."
He paused, his tone becoming sterner. "Or perhaps, Mr. Grant, you have a better solution?"
Tyler immediately fell silent.
Mr. Davenport ignored him and quickly pulled up the data Serena had requested, rattling off key data points at a rapid pace.
Serena listened, her eyes fixed on the screen, her long fingers a blur across the keyboard.
Her expression was one of absolute calm and focus.
Nicholas sat down next to Serena and immediately fell into a rhythm, matching her pace.
In that instant, it was as if they had entered a state of shared consciousness.
His fingers moved across his own keyboard at a speed that was no slower than hers.
"Found it."
"Found it."
Their voices rang out at the same time.
Serena and Nicholas looked up, their eyes meeting.
The man smirked, a lazy smile that was as captivating as a cunning fox.
"That's impossible!" Tyler's eyes bulged. "How long did that take you? A few minutes? You found the
attack program embedded in the core module that quickly?"