SD froze when he heard Sam's phone vibrate. The bodyguard smirked and quietly strode out of the dining hall.
"More salad, Mr. Kim?"
Hyeri's cold voice distracted him. SD smiled and nodded, taking the salad from her hands with a 'thanks'.
"The construction of the dam will start within a few days," PM Lee was saying. "Kim Taek is going to sponsor our plan but we need a long drawn out legal agreement with him."
SD, who was simply pretending to chew, slightly looked up. His interest was now piqued. A dam which Kim Taek was building? That was no mere coincidence.
He knew all about Kim Taek, one of the most dreaded mafia lors in the country. Outwardly, he had a clean business which consisted of many charitable organizations and real estate firms which were supposedly for the betterment of the people.
But in the underworld, he was the notorious mafia leader who ruled them with an iron fist. His grandson, Kim Kibum, was touted to be his successor but SD had rendered him useless. The Kim clan had no more worthy successors and he had little doubt the Kim Taek was looking for him.
This is interesting, he thought.
"The dam will be built at the Sailors' Reef, am I correct?" Jonghyun asked.
"Yes," PM Lee replied. "It'll be very beneficial to the country."
"But the Sailors' Reef is known as one of the most dangerous areas in the world," Sunye frowned. "Many boats have drowned there and it's also notorious for pirate attacks."
"It's the most profitable route of the country," PM Lee shrugged. "We have added a coast guard post there and the marines have taken over that area. Once this bridge is built, our country will have one more strategic route for economic prosperity."
"Sounds like a very interesting plan," SD complimented. "PM Lee has truly taken our country to new heights."
"Of course he did," Hyeri added with a smile. "My father has done things which even the Emperor could not have done. Within 24 years, he turned our country into a force to be reckoned with."
"The Emperor was a kind and generous man," Lee stated. "He might not have been a shrewd politician but his plans for the country were remarkable. I'm merely carrying out his legacy."
A legacy which you destroyed, Jonghyun thought. He gripped his glass tightly, trying to control himself. SD was calm and collected, listening to everything the PM was saying with apt attention. The news of the dam made him very curious.
I'll have to ask Minseok about this, he decided. Sunye, on the other hand, was a little troubled by the dam's construction. She had stumbled upon many reports regarding the Sailors' Reef. It was not simply a den for pirates and criminals but the weather was unpredictable. Boats and ships had gotten lost there. Building a dam in that area was highly risky.
Then why would the government abandon other routes and choose that one?
"Once this dam is built, no one will ever question my father's leadership skills," Hyeri smiled. "The citizens are happy with him and they'll vote for him for two more terms."
In Country-K, there was no limit on how many times a person can be the Prime Minister. The current ruling party made sure to omit out that provision under the guise of 'worthy people should be leaders as many times as they wanted'. On paper, it was to give power to a worthy candidate. In reality, the country was turning into an authoritarian rule under a dictator.
SD knew that the person who was sitting with them at that table was a puppet dictator. The real ones were still hiding in the shadows, watching as the country they controlled with an iron fist lived in blissful oblivion. Even if PM Lee was removed someday, they had several other dummies ready to be the next leader of the country. It did not matter to them who held the position as long as the Company kept the power.
And their power will be further solidified by that bloody dam. All SD needed was the plans to that dam which was hidden in the security room of the mansion. But standing in their way was the Company's lapdog, Sam Cheng.
SD glanced at the clock. Orea was probably trying to break into the system at that very moment. But how was he going to find out if she was successful or not?
The clock read 8:15 PM. With every tick, Orea was inching closer to danger.
I guess I'll have to use the backup plan, he thought.
Meanwhile, Orea was trying her level best to break into the system but the chip could not read the passcode combinations at all.
"That pompous ass must have set up a high firewall," she muttered. There was no doubt that Sam Cheng was a foe to be careful of. She had severely underestimated his abilities and in many ways, he was several steps ahead of them. He must have installed a tracker in the system so that if a hacker tries to forcibly enter, Sam Chen would be notified.
"Aish!" she moaned. "This is not looking good at all…"
She checked her watch. It was 8:15 PM. Five more minutes and we'll be forced to use our backup plan, she gritted inwardly.
"If we use the backup plan then I swear that I'll rip Sam Cheng to shreds someday!" she swore. She was taking her failure to hack the system on a very personal level. It was a matter of her pride now. She was not someone who would take defeat well. Especially not from the likes of Sam Cheng!
"Come on!" she scolded the chip. "Just work you little bitch!"
But the chip kept on flashing a red light. No matter how many times she tried, it was a failure.
….
Inside the security room, the technicians were at a loss. They were scattered around the place which was a hub for all the advanced security systems and computers. Widescreen monitors were hung on the walls while touchscreens were planted all around the circular room. There were no wires in sight as the system was built on the latest wireless technology. A hologram of the mansion was displayed in the middle of the room.
But the most striking thing was a 20 feet wide map of the country which was projected on one of the walls. The map was showing all the routes within the country but there were also millions of pinpoints on it which were regularly moving around. The dots were of three colors: red, yellow and green. Some of the points were moving while others were momentarily rooted to their place.
Beside it were monitors which constantly switched between pictures. The pictures were of different people who were doing mundane things like texting, studying, hanging out with friends etc. The people on the screen were living their lives, unaware that they were being watched by a group of strangers.
Another monitor was analyzing all the texts and email messages sent to and fro between the ordinary citizens of the country. Millions of data were being projected through the screen, some words being selected or decrypted for the secutiry team to analyze.
But at that moment, the calm and collected employees were in a panic mode. The red light over their heads had begun to flash, creating a surge of fear amongst them. Sam entered the room in a hurry, looking angry at the turn of events.
"Who is it?" he demanded. "Who's trying to break in?"
A mousy haired technician spoke up. "We're trying to locate him but that person has surprisingly high firewalls as well! Moreover, the pin keeps on changing its position. Sometimes the location is at the docks, sometimes at a police station, sometimes outside the country!"
Sam took over and typed on the keyboard. Instantly, an outline of the country appeared. He tried to locate the hacker but the point kept on moving to different locations.
"This person is using a very advanced VPN, possibly even a foreign one," another person stated. "It might be a prototype we're unaware of."
"Or a self-created one which isn't for sale," Sam muttered. Whoever was trying to break in, is using a VPN which had a very different algorithm. He was able to cover his tracks well.
Two can play at that game, he thought. He took the cursor and opened a program.
"Sir, are you really going to use that?" one of the technicians gasped. "That can kill the hacker!"
"He's trying to break into a high security vault," Sam said in a steely tone. "It's treason and he would die if caught anyway."
The technicians gulped as Sam activated their highest defense level. He keyed in the code and pressed enter.
"This will teach any idiot not to mess with us," he murmured.
Back in the washroom, Orea was alarmed. The chip was now becoming hotter and hotter.
Uh oh!
She quickly took it out and with second to spare, threw it into the toilet, flushing it off. She thought she heard a low 'boom' sound but there was little time to spare. Thankfully, she had anticipated that if her attempts to hack the system were caught, they might try to self-destruct her chip. It was quite small so the explosion would not have much of an impact but on close range, it could cause her to lose an eye.
She checked her watch and groaned. It was 8:20 PM. Plan B was to be activated. Meaning, they would give up.
"UGH!" Orea muttered in frustration. "We'll have to abandon our efforts."
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