“Good morning, Daddy! Ketchup missed you so much! Meow~” Ketchup greeted Jin Liwei as soon as his alarm went off the next morning. The cat AI no longer sounded sleepy and dazed like last night. She was back to her usual cheerful and lively self after “sleeping” and completing her updates.

“Morning, Ketchup,” Jin Liwei smiled, glad that their third cat was back. “Not so loud. Your mom is still sleeping.”

“Oh. Okay, Daddy. Ketchup will be quiet. Meow,” she whispered.

Later, Jin Liwei finished showering and dressing in his business suit before heading to the kitchen to eat breakfast. Ice Cream and Popcorn accompanied him, and of course, Ketchup as well. The chatty cat AI talked nonstop about different topics but never once did she talk about the bombing incident or the hacking mess she caused. His baby girl must have done something to prevent Ketchup from touching these subjects.

“Mommy’s coming, Daddy! Meow~”

Indeed, his baby girl appeared just before he finished his meal. Iris still looked sleepy as she greeted and kissed him good morning. She liked sleeping in whenever she didn’t have work early in the morning but would try her best to wake up just to see him off before he left for work.

On one hand, he wanted her to rest as much as possible for her health and well-being. But on another hand, he loved that she was doing this for him.

Only for him.

“Take care at work, darling,” she told him, straightening his tie, as they stood facing each other at the grand foyer.

“En. Thanks, love.”

“Mommy, can I go help daddy at work today? Meow~” Ketchup asked.

“Not today,” Iris replied. “I still need to observe you for a few days before you can return to assisting your dad and playing with the others.”

“Aaaaaw~”

“Listen to your mom, Ketchup,” Jin Liwei said.

“Okay, Daddy! Ketchup will be a good kitty and listen to Mommy always. Meow~”

He nodded, satisfied. Then he saw the distracted expression on his baby girl. He kissed her forehead.

“I know what you’re planning to do today. I won’t stop you but don’t forget to eat proper meals and take your medicine. Didn’t you say that you want to return to work in a few days? Then you need sufficient rest to do so. Don’t push yourself too hard,” he told her.

Iris nodded, smiling. Then she stood on her tippy-toes and pressed her lips against his lips. “I’ll send lunch for you later. Call me when you have time. Ketchup will answer for me if I’m too distracted.”

“En. I have to go now. I love you.”

“Be safe. I love you, too.”

Iris and the cats watched Jin Liwei leave. When the car disappeared from her view, she ate breakfast with Dom, Jiang Ying Yue and Little Jun. Yi Mei fussed over her and had nagged the chef to cook nutrition-rich dishes to speed up her recovery.

Lu Zihao was out as usual doing his own thing. The brother and sister rarely saw each other during this period, even though Iris was always at home recovering. He became busier after what happened to her in the bomb incident, same as Jin Liwei. Both men were doing this for her.

By mid-morning, everyone became preoccupied with their daily tasks. Even Little Jun, a toddler, had a daily schedule just like the adults. He had hand painting activity this morning with his nanny while his mother, Jiang Ying Yue, went to train with Jin Liwei’s subordinates. She was now an informal member of Dragon Palace Home #10’s security team.

Iris took this opportunity when everyone was busy to head to her computer room again and immediately went to work. Ketchup assisted her but Iris forbade her to do any serious hacking. The cat AI seemed more docile after Iris repaired her. Ketchup still retained her curious and naughty personality but seemed to lose her impulsiveness.

‘It has only been yesterday. I need to observe her longer,’ Iris thought.

She also checked the corrupted part she removed from Ketchup’s system yesterday which was still locked in heavy quarantine. Her eyes widened and she gasped when she examined it. Even though it was already separated from Ketchup’s advanced and dynamic system, the corrupted part managed to continue developing on its own. The changes were minimal (for now) but Iris immediately noticed them.

‘What’s going on?’

Her curiosity was aroused. She set the quarantine under priority surveillance so that she could closely observe the changes as they happened. She had a few hypotheses in mind as to why these changes were happening but nothing was proven yet. Caution told her to be careful because the specimen was essentially made up of pure corruption. Despite this, a sense of excitement caused her to look forward as to what kind of thing it would develop into.

‘If it turns out to be something bad, I’ll just destroy it. There should be no big problem.’

After observing it for a few more moments, she left it alone and worked on her next tasks.

Her eyes sharpened and a calm yet predatory aura emanated from her. She began hacking, roaming the vastness of the online world, from the surface to the deepest and the darkest parts, as if it was her own backyard. Dangerous, yes. But it was part of the deal as one of the most wanted hackers in the world. No, two of the most wanted hackers in the world—first as Fantom and then now as Drakon.

Ketchup wasn’t allowed to assist her this time. Iris still felt uneasy in assigning her an important hacking task, so she decided to do this on her own this time. She instead assigned Ketchup to remind her of the time and watch for Jin Liwei’s call. In the meantime, the white cat played with her virtual ball of yarn, chased virtual butterflies, and jumped on her virtual trampoline to prevent boredom while Iris was absorbed in hacking.

Finally, Iris’ labour today began to produce some fruits. She managed to unearth some e-mails, messages and even call recordings from an unknown person to Tian Kong despite them being completely erased. Other hackers had been unable to uncover any of these clues since the bomb incident.

Iris managed to do it but that didn’t mean that it was easy. Whenever she tried digging deeper, she encountered a formidable wall blocking her from going any further. Her eyes narrowed. The hell she would give up. She continuously probed, trying to find a weakness.

Then she was attacked all of a sudden.

Whenever she was in the zone, panic was non-existent for her. Instead, she became calmer and more focused. Her fighting and competitive spirit also surged forth. Since she didn’t need to worry about Ketchup this time, she could go all out as she wished.

‘Strong. Very strong,’ she inwardly commented about the hacker fighting against her.

Was it one of the old guys? Or maybe there was a new god-level genius hacker who surfaced after her?

Her expression didn’t show any worry. In fact, the corners of her lips curved into a smile instead.

###

[This novel is a contracted work with W e b n o v e l . c o m (remove spaces). If you’re not reading this chapter on W e b n o v e l, it has been stolen. It’s very discouraging to see thieves profitting from my hard work. Please read this novel on W e b n o v e l. Thank you! -Arria]