However, the young woman still had some doubts. According to the records, the pickup truck that gave her a ride should have stayed in California; it hadn't left, let alone crossed seven or eight states to reach Wisconsin.
How did this woman named Isabella Swan manage to get here?
The young woman investigated Bella's family situation again.
Charlie and Samantha's records were squeaky clean, without any issues. No bad habits, no involvement in gang money laundering—everything was normal.
When she followed the California IP address and attempted to investigate the family's youngest daughter, an unexpected obstruction caught her attention.
She could see part of Natasha's data, but the rest was hidden.
The female hacker was a bit surprised. What's the situation? What information is hidden? Who hid it? Let me take a peek!
She kept a low profile in her daily life, but she was very high-profile on the internet—a common trait among most hackers. She invaded Natasha's personal computer with an extremely aggressive technique.
Just as she made her move, Natasha—who claimed to know a little bit about everything and could chat for half an hour with professionals in any field—immediately discovered someone was invading her computer.
What a cunning person the little beauty was! To find this hidden enemy, she pretended not to know, even handing over administrator privileges on a silver platter. The female hacker in Wisconsin tested twice, sensed no issues, and 'walked' right in.
She closed Natasha's browser window and, with true hacker flair, opened a blank text document.
Natasha was busy as a bee on her end. She had a professional computer configured for her by S.H.I.E.L.D., with performance 20% stronger than top-tier commercial computers. Although she was engaging the enemy in a rush, her reaction speed was incredibly fast. She secretly activated firewalls, started honeypots, and prepared a whole heap of information bombs, ready to throw them all out at once.
While preparing, she played along with the female hacker.
"Who are you? What do you want?"
"Please, let me go, my computer is brand new!"
"Are you still there? I haven't done anything bad."
Natasha constantly showed weakness. The female hacker fell for it as expected; she was alert in daily life, but she was far behind compared to a trained agent.
Realizing the other party posed no threat, she revealed her famous name on the internet: "ROOT!"
Root? Natasha, currently in Los Angeles, knew this name. She hesitated no longer and directly activated the measures she had set up, wanting to check the other party's real IP address.
The female hacker sensed something was wrong and immediately began to retreat.
Two strangers began to war in the virtual world, coming and going, probing each other, attacking each other.
As time went on, Natasha couldn't quite hold her ground. After all, she wasn't a professional hacker; her basic knowledge was slightly lacking, and her train of thought wasn't as flexible as a pro's. However, she had a method too. I'm part of an organization! I can't beat you, right? I'll call for backup!
One phone call later, more than ten S.H.I.E.L.D. cyber experts, who were bored out of their minds every day, immediately entered the field. Among them were several former hackers recruited by S.H.I.E.L.D. Over ten streams of information smashed through the firewall set up by the female hacker, tracing the signal all the way back to Wisconsin with irresistible force.
What the hell!? The female hacker was greatly startled.
Her hacking skills were good; in less than five minutes, she had beaten the scheming Natasha to the ground. But that was a one-on-one duel. Against more than ten people of the same level, she was definitely no match.
Did I provoke an organization? Being able to gather such a large group of cyber experts in just a few minutes—she could already feel the sheer size of this organization.
Nothing left to say. Run!
Clearing her login traces, she successfully escaped the tracking just before the S.H.I.E.L.D. experts broke through her final firewall.
"Seems like there are a lot of secrets!" Originally, she was just bored and looking around casually; she hadn't expected to dig up something real.
She didn't dare provoke the distant ones anymore, but she wasn't afraid of the one close at hand. Every aspect of this small town was under her surveillance; to the female hacker, this town had no secrets.
Pulling up the surveillance outside the motel, she saw the pickup truck, then found Bella's room number. But Bella was already asleep; the room was pitch black, revealing nothing.
The female hacker decided to investigate the pickup truck.
No sooner said than done. She changed her clothes, grabbed her tools, and quietly left the house.
Twenty minutes later, the female hacker was sweating profusely. In the December weather, her clothes were soaked, yet she still hadn't pried the car door open...
Just as she was about to give up, the car door suddenly opened. A woman in a white dress was sitting in the passenger seat.
"Take me home."
Shaw's eyes were somewhat glazed. The psychic impact from Dark Alessa affected her far more than Bella had estimated. If no one disturbed her, she could control it, but with someone nearby, it was hard to say.
Right now, she urgently needed some souls to replenish her spirit body. It was an instinctual need.
Who is this? The female hacker was confused. She touched the taser in her pocket. Thinking she had a weapon while the other party didn't, she wasn't worried about safety.
"Who are you?"
"Take me home."
"Are you that Miss Swan's friend?"
"Take me home."
Is this a fool!? The female hacker looked at Shaw with a weird expression. Such a pretty girl, how come her brain doesn't work well?
She remembered her original goal. She stepped into the driver's seat, wanting to find Bella's secrets.
She hadn't been rummaging for a minute when she saw Shaw's left hand brush over her long dress, rolling the skirt up bit by bit.
What are you doing? Can we be serious here? The female hacker, Root, was a bit stunned.
"Do you think I'm pretty?" The ghost's instinct suppressed Shaw's own consciousness. She could only mechanically do certain things—like killing people, or devouring human souls.
The female hacker's face was full of surprise. At this moment, she couldn't help but be affected by Shaw's negative energy aura. Her thoughts grew fuzzy; she only felt that this woman in white was truly beautiful.
Her lips glistened, her eyes were full of temptation. Even though the female hacker was also a woman, she couldn't help but be mesmerized. The distance between their lips grew closer and closer.
"Holy crap! Are you guys kidding me?"
At the critical moment, Bella ran out of the motel, sporting a bird's-nest hairstyle.
She had woken up when the female hacker was prying at the car, but the trip to Silent Hill had drained her stamina significantly. After lying down, she had lazed in bed, dawdling for several minutes. By the time she realized something was wrong and ran out, she was slightly late.
She reached out with her left hand, grabbed the female hacker by the belt, and threw her out of the car.
Only then did she realize Shaw's condition was worse than predicted.
Ignoring the female hacker's bewildered face, she slammed on the gas pedal and rushed toward the center of the lake not far from the town. There was a water ghost at the bottom of that lake—perfect for giving Shaw a nutritional supplement!