“Got any leads on your side?”

Tilda shook her head. “I already looked into this group while you guys were busy. They’re spotless. Just a simple charity project.”

“Erm…”

If even Tilda said that, then… Jarrett and the others exchanged confused looks. Attacking a foreign charity went against everything Comet Squad stood for and the reason they were founded.

But Benedict said they had to destroy the foundation’s servers to get full autonomy. Now their mission orders and beliefs sat on opposite sides of a scale. The squad didn’t know what to do. One by one, they turned to Tilda. She closed her eyes for a moment, then stood up.

Everyone thought she had made her choice. Instead…

“Let’s go eat.”

“Eat?” They all stared at her, dumbfounded.

“It’s already eight at night. We didn’t even have lunch. Work matters, but health comes first. If we don’t have our health, we’ve got nothing. Besides, we already know what the Rosales Foundation really is. We’ve still got plenty of time left before the 24-hour limit.”

Astrid couldn’t hold back. “But… Queen, they demanded to wipe the data, and we…”

“What we’re going to do is eat first. Then we’ll come back and dig deeper into everything about the Rosales Foundation. Got it?”

The second she said it, the whole squad understood her decision.

“Sure!”

The call came the next day, around 4:00 p.m. Benedict picked up. “Well? Did you completely wipe the Rosales Foundation’s data?”

Wesley happened to be nearby, sorting through files. He froze at his brother’s words, then looked at him with a strange expression.

“We didn’t destroy their data,” Tilda said flatly. “Comet Squad cracked the Rosales servers in three hours. But we spent the next 20 hours investigating everything about them.

“After careful study, we found the Rosales Foundation is a real charity. No lies. No cover-up. Comet Squad will never attack a group like that.”

Her voice was cold.

“Queen, this was both an order and a trial,” Benedict replied. “By saying this, are you declaring you’ll abandon the mission?” His tone turned icy. Even through the phone, his pressure was suffocating.

Tilda had the call on speaker. Everyone in the squad heard him. The tension made their shoulders stiff.

“That’s right. I’m walking away.” Tilda’s answer was sharp and certain. She wasn’t shaken by Benedict at all.

“You’re smart enough to know why I told you to destroy their servers. This was about Cetherland’s honor. For your squad, it’s nothing. Just a test of loyalty. With one keystroke, you’d gain access to the national data vault. With state approval, everything would get easier.

“For hackers driven by curiosity and a hunger for knowledge, this is an offer too tempting to refuse. Are you really going to stop at the finish line?” His voice softened. He sounded like a devil tempting humans to open Pandora’s box. And in that box was a treasure people dreamed of. Even the strongest wills would bend under that kind of lure.

But…

“This kind of honor isn’t what Cetherland needs. And it’s not something Comet Squad will ever chase. If gaining autonomy means breaking our own bottom line and killing our conscience, then we’ll never do it.

“Mr. Lamb, maybe you don’t know where our line is. So I’ll say it again. First, we don’t harm national security. Second, we don’t betray basic human decency. Third, we never stand against the innocent. Your mission breaks all three. So sorry, but we won’t help you.”

Tilda’s voice rose into a near-roar. Benedict’s so-called trial was nothing but an insult to Comet Squad. If a human threw away their bottom line, they were no better than the Jensons scum who destroyed lives without a care. Tilda would never trade her conscience for a mission. She’d always fight for things in the right way.

If the heads of Cetherland’s National Cyber Security Center were really people like Benedict Lamb, then she was beyond disappointed. She knew one thing for sure—she would never work with them in this lifetime.