The leader squinted at his own computer screen, his fingers flying nonstop over the keyboard, before chuckling. “There is no need to wonder anymore which bastard is valiantly defending against our attack on Jin Corporation right now. Say hello to our old friend and rival, my brothers. The motherfucking Drakon! Ahahaha!”

“Arrogant son of a bitch! Always getting in our way! See how I pummel you with all the new viruses I made! Take that, little lizard!”

“Shit, he took me out already. Dammit!”

The leader became even more focused in the hacking battle. Bloodthirsty viciousness glinted in his eyes but the interesting thing was that there was no animosity directed at their tough opponent, only pure excitement and burning competitiveness. In fact, his mouth was stretched into a wide grin, giving him a roguishly charming air.

“Just like the last time we faced off against Drakon, it seems that he isn’t working alone,” he said. “This one should be the annoyingly tough defender and all-rounder support, WhiteTigress. Not bad at all, no? Fufufufu.”

“I think it’s only WhiteTigress this time. Thank fuck! I hate the other one. Such a nasty, aggressive little fucker. He fried my beloved laptop that I lovingly assembled last time. Ugh! Makes me so mad just remembering it!”

The leader raised an eyebrow, amused at his friend’s words. “Calling someone else nasty and aggressive, hm? Why don’t you go and take a look in the mirror first?”

All of them laughed and made fun of their brother. [Read official chapters on W e b n o v e l (dot) com. Please stop supporting piracy. Also follow author on Instagram: @arriacross]

“WhiteTigress and BlackPanther might be difficult little shits who always manage to give us trouble, but remember that they’re nothing compared to Drakon,” he reminded everyone.

“So true, my brother! Drakon, that bastard, always ends up saving those two little shits whenever we almost beat them. It’s clear that the two are quite important to Drakon or else he won’t come running to clean up after their asses every single time.”

“The two must be really Drakon’s disciples if he cares so much about them, no? Interesting. Fufufu!”

“Hmph! Taking his own disciples, huh. Who does Drakon think he is? He can never compare to our own master when it comes to teaching disciples. Master El Payaso is the best hacker in the entire world! No one can beat him—AH!!!”

“!!!”

Everyone was startled at the loud crash.

“Oh, sorry about that,” the leader drawled. “The bottle slipped out of my hand. What a naughty, disobedient beer bottle. My brother, forgive me, yes?”

The one who was almost hit by the bottle gave a nervous laugh. “All good, no worries! We’re brothers so of course I forgive you. Haha. Let’s…let’s continue our attack and beat Drakon and his disciples’ asses tonight, shall we?”

A chorus of assent echoed in the large, luxurious but dim and messy room. They looked pumped to battle against tough opponents but the tense atmosphere after the smashed beer bottle remained.

The leader acted as if everything was normal but his eyes glinted with cold hostility. It wasn’t directed at his brother but at the words uttered just a few seconds ago.

Out of his earshot, his other brothers whispered among themselves.

“You know that he worships Fantom like a great god. In his mind, there’s nobody else in the world who’s a better hacker than Fantom, not even our own master, El Payaso. Of course, he’s going to lose his shit when you named another hacker as the best in the world instead of Fantom.”

“Master has been around earlier and longer than Fantom. I think that Master is still the better hacker than Fantom, especially now that it has been a few years since Fantom disappeared from the hacker world without a trace. Fantom is gone but our master is still going strong and even training the lot of us to continue his legacy.”

“I agree with you but our brother doesn’t think the same way. He’s the best hacker among us, that’s why Master appointed him as our group leader. Even Master knows that it’s Fantom that our brother admires the most, not him. But Master doesn’t resent him because of his undeniable natural talent and skills in hacking.”

They sighed. However, they were all brothers who had been through so many ups and downs together since they were little boys. Disagreements among them occurred often but they always made up in the end because of their strong brotherhood.

“Just be careful about what you say next time, brother, so as not to trigger our leader especially when it involves Fantom. If given the choice between Fantom and our Master El Payaso, we all know that he’s going to choose Fantom. That’s why our hacking style follows Fantom’s distinct style more than our own master’s. It’s also the reason why our leader is so fixated on Drakon because the bastard’s style is also quite similar to Fantom.”

They nodded.

“Alright. Enough chit-chat. We still have to win tonight’s hacking battle against Drakon and his two disciples.”

In the next instant, however, they heard a loud curse from the other side of the room.

“Fuck! It’s that nasty fellow BlackPanther again! Ah, my poor baby laptop! I just powered up your specs this week but that little shit fried you. Again!”

The leader glanced at his brother who was grieving for the poor dead laptop even as his fingers sped up over his keyboard. “I see. So that’s how it is. Drakon and WhiteTigress are defending Jin Corporation while BlackPanther is holding the fort at the hotel and protecting Liam Jin.”

Then he smirked before giving instructions to his brothers. “Group B, continue battling Drakon and WhiteTigress to breach Jin Corporation. Give them as much trouble as you can, yes? I’ll join Group A this time. Let’s see what Drakon is going to do when his other disciple, BlackPanther, is pushed in a tight corner by us. Drakon will surely come running to rescue the little one, no? Fufufu. Once Drakon leaves Jin Corporation to save BlackPanther, then that’s the best time to attack Jin Corporation all at once and overpower WhiteTigress. Oh, how exciting! This is what I’m talking about! Hahahaha!”

With a clear goal, everyone became more focused. The earlier tension in the air disappeared. Once again, the brothers worked together as one like how they always did since their childhood while growing up in an extremely harsh environment.

###

Back at the five-star hotel, Jin Liwei and Xu Tian returned to the restaurant’s private dining room where the other Jin Corporation executives were eating and waiting for them. They didn’t question them about their half an hour absence from the dining table.

It was a common occurrence anyway because Jin Liwei was the CEO and was always busy. And as the CEO’s executive assistant, Xu Tian was also extremely busy, perhaps even busier than Jin Liwei depending on one’s point of view.

Jin Liwei’s expression didn’t show any of his real thoughts as he interacted with the other executives as if nothing was wrong in the world and they were all just enjoying dinner together to celebrate his marriage with Iris Long.

Deep inside, however, he was on extremely high alert as he continued receiving updates from Bacon through the earpiece. But he began to feel more reassured because his brother-in-law Lu Zihao was already on his way to the hotel.

A few Shadow Winds members who were near the area and were summoned by Lu Zihao had already started arriving before their boss. But instead of sending these members to provide back-up to Jin Liwei’s security team at the hotel, both Jin Liwei and Lu Zihao were of the same mind and sent them directly to Iris’ group a short distance away.

The two men were helpless against her stubbornness. They also had to act cautious around her because of her extreme mood swings that could strike at any time without any warning. It would be hell on earth if they ended up infuriating her to the point that she decided to run away, hide from them, and give birth to the twins on her own. She was a very strong-minded woman and could really do that if angered.

Since they couldn’t make her leave and go home tonight no matter what they said, all they could do was send more people to guard her group, and most importantly, to prevent her from storming inside the hotel where it could be potentially dangerous especially for a pregnant woman like her.

Right at that moment, the door opened and a waiter entered carrying a tray of different cocktails. Some of the executives cheered, feeling excited at the thought of loosening up their stiff collars with some stronger alcohol than the red wine served earlier.

Jin Liwei frowned when an elaborate glass was served in front of him. “I didn’t order this.”

“Ah, President. I ordered a cocktail for you and Assistant Xu while you two were gone earlier. I hope that you don’t mind my presumptuousness. If the cocktails that I ordered don’t suit your taste, please order other ones instead.”

“No need to order another one. This is fine.” Jin Liwei reached for the cocktail but didn’t drink it yet.

Everyone was waiting for him to drink first because he was the person with the highest rank in the room.

A voice talked to his earpiece but the others didn’t hear it except for him and Xu Tian.

Jin Liwei’s fingers tightened around the glass while everyone looked at him with anticipation.

Xu Tian looked grim. “How about I drink President’s—”

Jin Liwei downed the cocktail. The others cheered and started drinking their own cocktails. Nobody noticed anything unusual because both Jin Liwei and Xu Tian had already mastered the art of a stoic face.