Chapter 8 Mission Accepted
“However, what Zeus excelled at was information tracking.”
Finished
“Once he detected the initial trail of this item, even if he failed to pinpoint its exact coordinates later, it would be enough to count as preliminary completion of the task.”
“At that point, this level–zero account would be considered a failure–not only wiped clean and deleted, but also liable for significant compensation.”
Someone remarked with glee.
This was the harsh reality of the Darknet.
Except for tasks allowing multiple acceptances, for ordinary tasks, once more than two people accepted them, competition mode was triggered.
Apart from the person who completed the task fastest and made the most progress, others who accepted the task and then failed would have a certain amount of points and level compensation deducted from their accounts to be given to the winner. Additionally, the person who lost points had to pay compensation based on a percentage of the task’s bounty.
After all, if you accepted a task without the capability to complete it, needlessly increasing the difficulty and competition, you naturally had to bear a considerable cost.
This was also to prevent those without sufficient skills from maliciously accepting tasks and hindering others‘ completion.
Now, Isabella’s account was only Level Zero. That meant if she didn’t complete this task, or fell behind Zeus, her only path would be account deletion.
“Newbies, always so bold with their skills,” someone with the alias “Smole” sneered in the forum’s comment,
section.
Many below echoed the sentiment.
Isabella, however, paid little attention to these discussions on the forum and was unaware of the swirling currents within the Darknet.
After glancing at the task requirements, she promptly exited and began using the old, battered computer to hack into and enter the city’s network system.
It happened to be quite a coincidence.
Isabella had checked earlier and found that the task issuer’s ID was located just one city over, neighboring
her own.
For Isabella, this made pinpointing the location much simpler.
Once she accessed the city network management center through the city management system, she began retrieving vast amounts of data from the city’s interconnected network system, along with various video surveillance feeds.
1/4
5:57 pm
Chapter & Mission Accepted
Finished
For Isabella, once the target’s location was confirmed, all the task requirements and information provided by the issuer became of title assistance to her.
Objects were inanimate, but people were living.
First, investigate where this item initially appeared and when it was lost.
Then, slowly trace back to identify the first person who came into contact with the item and its last recorded location on the networked surveillance.
The task publisher provided detailed materials to help sort out the situation, but Isabella didn’t need them.
She closed her eyes slightly, her mental power and psychic energy merging into the network. She began rapidly retrieving massive amounts of information and video surveillance data–data that would take even a supercomputer at least a dozen hours to fully process and organize.
“Whoosh!”
About half an hour later, Isabella opened her eyes.
“Found it.”
She had tracked all the people and information the item had come into contact with over the past two to three weeks, along with their trajectories, movements, and daily routines.
Finally, she pinpointed the last known location of the item and the most likely place it currently was.
“Eastbrook Street, 38, Building 76, Apartment 363, safe in the west bedroom.”
Isabella typed this sentence into the task submission box.
****
Meanwhile, in Hallard City, at Hanks Group.
Edward Hanks frowned deeply, staring at the message on his computer screen.
This was something a friend had suggested he try.
Hanks Group was facing its biggest crisis ever.
୮
Edward never imagined that someone within the company’s upper management would betray the group’s
core secrets.
The individual had stolen confidential materials from Hanks Group, containing some of the most central secrets of the entire Hanks Group industrial chain–one of the company’s most crucial technological
assets.
Making last–minute adjustments was now impossible.
Moreover, if these materials weren’t recovered by tomorrow, the stock market would immediately receive the news and crash.
2/4
5:57 pm
Chapter 8 Mission Accepted
Finished
Most importantly, Hanks Group had expanded too aggressively recently, offending many. Once those parties got wind of the situation and joined the hunt against Hanks Group, the losses would be incalculable.
Edward now could only hope that the people on the Darknet were truly resourceful and could recover those items within an extremely short time, especially that most confidential technical document.
At this point, the thief likely didn’t have time to crack the password.
Thinking of this, Edward slammed his fist on the desk.
His refined, cold face was icy.
He was the elegant, handsome type–the rumored smiling fox.
Edward had inherited his mother’s good looks, with delicate, almost pretty–boy features.
But pressed down by cold, solemn silver–rimmed glasses and paired with his formal business attire, it gave him a somewhat forbiddingly icy, ascetic feel, tempering the overly delicate softness of his appearance.
Just as Edward’s gaze turned frosty, he suddenly saw a submission appear in the task box.
“Deity: Eastbrook Street, 38, Building 76, Apartment 363, safe in the west bedroom.”
Edward’s eyes widened.
He immediately called his security team.
For something like this, involving the police right away was out of the question to avoid leaking information.
As he made the call, Zeus, on the other end, also sent a message. “Based on the information and materials, you provided, the item last appeared most likely at…”
Zeus provided a location where the item was last likely seen.
For most people, getting that far was pretty good.
And Zeus was among the most authoritative experts in information investigation.
Confidently, he submitted his answer, thinking he’d likely get at least one–fifth of the reward again.
These kinds of information tasks were always his favorite.
Except for some cases with long histories and scarce information, usually when he took action, he could get some portion of the reward.
As Zeus whistled, waiting for Edward to transfer the payment, a “Task Failed” message appeared on the interface.
Then, in the Golden Hub, a red notification began flashing.
3/4
3:57 pm
Chapter 8 Mission Accepted
Finished
“S–Jevel Urgent PTU5888 task completed. Completer: Deity. Completion time: thirty minutes, forty seconds. Completion grade: S–level! Task perfect!”
This kind of red notification only appeared when a Purple–level urgent task was completed.
And the employer confirmed the task was perfectly fulfilled.
Isabella saw her Darknet account now held a balance of one hundred million dollars.
That was the reward for Edward’s task.
Moreover, because the item was perfectly recovered, Edward even managed to use the time difference to apprehend the company executive who was hiding in the house.
The individual had undergone plastic surgery during this period. Having planned this long in advance, by the time Edward and others discovered the data was missing, it was already the absolute last day.
If it hadn’t been found by tomorrow, Hanks Group would have faced massive losses. In comparison, one hundred million dollars was nothing.
In fact, if it weren’t for the inability to contact that person on the Darknet, Edward would have wanted to personally express his gratitude.
合
20
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.

Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: A Superpowered Warrior in a Fake Heiress’s Body
Wrong story, wrong chapter...