Pampered by my three brothers: the return of the neglected heiress

Chapter 1470: X

[Team A's Side]

"I see an opening! An opening!" one of the members shouted, typing rapidly on his keyboard. "Get them-distract them! I'm going to infiltrate. Come on, guys! Keep talking! I can't keep glancing at your screens!"

"Distract them. Buy him some time. I'm busy right now."

"I'm launching a virus," another chimed in. "I can't do both right now! God damn it! Someone buy some time!!"

"I'll sustain—damn it! They're shutting me out! I need a hand here!"

Team A worked in perfect sync despite their differences during practice rounds. The cheers surrounding them faded into the background as they focused entirely on each other's voices and the glowing screens before them.

Meanwhile, on Team D's side, frustration was etched across their faces. The first round lasted only for several minutes. Not only had they almost handed their opponents free points, but the humiliation of being overwhelmed so quickly was hard to swallow.

Now, they were doing their best to hold off the relentless attacks on their system. So far, they were doing better than the first round.

"Hey, someone's trying to get in!" one of them shouted. "I'm already holding someone off! Someone stop him!"

"Fuck! I'm being attacked, I can't let go of this one just yet!"

"Calm down. Don't let them get to you. Hold them off long enough, and they'll get impatient. They'll make a mistake soon. Keep your heads together until then."

The clacking of keyboards filled the air, peppered with curses and situation updates. Team A was clearly pushing hard, but Team D was finally doing a better job-holding the line and preventing their defenses from being breached.

Meanwhile, in the VIP section of the event, Teddy approached Atlas.

"Sir."

Atlas raised his brows at the quiet call and turned his head. His gaze landed on Teddy, one of Penny's secretaries. Seeing that Penny wasn't with him, Atlas immediately stepped away from the group he'd been watching the competition with and moved to the side with Teddy.

"Where is she?" Atlas asked quietly, swirling the wine in his glass.

Teddy leaned in and spoke under his breath. "Miss Penny asked me to inform you —there's a problem." He then summarized the situation as best he could.

back slightly, his expression unreadable

the moment those words left his mouth, the lights abruptly

frozen silence spread through the hall. The sudden darkness made it feel as though everyone had gone blind, the residual buzz from the earlier

Atlas slowly looked up-

laugh echoed through

and instinctively clutched Penny's arm as the

HAHAHA!

the speakers, a collective

HAHAHA!

flickered to life, displaying the word [HAHAHA!] in bold red letters. The same text appeared on every computer screen-including those onstage-and even on the smaller monitors scattered

"Miss Penny."

side. Penny turned to him and leaned in as he spoke quietly. After a brief exchange,

said, sensing his reluctance.

he whispered and gave a small bow before leaving to carry out her

crowd, Penny turned her attention back

screen.

Josef Em from

Patricia blinked, confused. "Huh?"

from the

"What's going on?"

"What the hell?"

"Hey, someone-what is this?"

from both the audience and the players. Just

intense cyber

displayed the same rotating text-like

everyone. My name is

male, automated voice echoed alongside the

my attention that something

players murmured,

one of the world's toughest security systems for