Chapter 162: An Unexpected Message from the Queen

“Oh no, my contact lens got messed up. I’d better go wash it.”

At that moment, Jarrett noticed a new post on the forum he’d created.

“Huh? There’s a new post? Did someone else post something?”

Each squad member had their own way of staying in touch. Actually, no one had used this forum in ages. And with all the hidden IP protections, nobody could post unless Jarrett approved it. That’s why this sudden new post caught his attention.

Jarrett set his cup of instant noodles aside, grabbed the mouse, and started clicking through the site. When he saw the post’s content, he stopped breathing for a second.

It’s…

It’s Queen?!

The legendary Queen?!

Oh my gosh!

Jarrett’s hand shook so hard he nearly spilled his noodles. He didn’t even care. This feeling… It was like being a superfan and suddenly getting a call from your favorite celebrity!

The idol you’ve admired for years wanted to reach out and claimed she wanted to connect with her fans!

Oh, man, my heart is racing wildly. No! Calm down! Calm down, Jarrett!

He clutched his chest, closed his eyes, and took several deep breaths to steady himself.

Then—

“111111111”

Jarrett mashed the “1” key on his keyboard like a madman. The whole desk shook, like the house might fall apart. He only stopped when the “I” key finally popped off the keyboard.

Jarrett couldn’t let someone else get this chance! This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to talk with Queen.

Just as Jarrett sat there, his heart pounding with excitement, he kept hitting “F5” repeatedly to refresh the page, hoping something new would appear. Then, his phone rang.

It was an unknown number. Jarrett’s heart pounded so loudly he could barely hear. Hands trembling, he pressed the answer button.

“Hello? Is this Queen?”

“It’s me.”

Tilda’s voice came through, cool and calm.

Jarrett almost burst into tears.

Her voice is so melodious! And she really is a girl! She sounded like someone who had experienced everything life could throw at her.

Queen has to be super pretty in real life, right?

“Jarrett?”

“Yes… Idol—uh, I mean, Queen, how can I help?”

He was so nervous he could barely talk, so he bit his lip; the pain helped him to stay focused. There was no way he was going to embarrass himself in front of his idol.

“You have a dark web account, right?”

“Oh—yeah! I’ll log in right now!”

Jarrett started typing furiously. He dumped his unfinished noodles straight into the trash. Nothing could get in the way of this moment with his idol! He logged in, staring at his username—“Clown.”

“Queen, I’ve logged in.”

He didn’t even get to finish before he saw Queen’s friend request pop up.

Whoa!

He sucked in a sharp breath.

No way this is a scam. This is the real deal!

Queen’s friend request!

Jarrett hit “accept” before he even thought about it.

“I’m doing this so you can trust me and know I really am Queen,” Tilda explained.

“I’ve checked you out, all four of you. Sorry about this. I think your group is trustworthy. You’ve been fighting against hacker groups trying to break into our country’s firewall and steal information, right?”

“Yes! The four of us got together because we all like this kind of thing. I guess we’re pretty good at it. When something like this happens, we want to help. It’s just…our skills aren’t that amazing. We’ve stopped a few attacks. When stronger, more organized hackers show up, it’s too much for just us to handle.”

Jarrett scratched the back of his head, embarrassed. Saying all this in front of his idol made him want to hide; it was too embarrassing.

“It’s not about how many people you have. What matters is skill, execution, and passion. Too many people, and things get messy. If anything leaks, it’s a problem. But if you’ve made it onto the dark web hacker leaderboard, that means your team is seriously talented."

“I want to bring the four of you onto my team. I’ll do my best to teach you everything I know about hacking. How much you can learn is up to you. What do you think?”

“What?!”

It took Jarrett a minute to process what Tilda was saying. She repeated herself patiently. Jarrett finally understood and shouted, “Queen, are you saying you want us to be your mentees?!”

“Sorry, for personal reasons, I’ll never take on mentees. But I’d rather call us partners fighting side by side. We’re all from Cetherland. No matter what our motives, none of us wants to see our country get hurt, right?”