The sun had already risen to its peak in the sky and was now beginning to set.
But Christian, alone in his room and absorbed by the small screen in front of him, paid it no attention. He was still engrossed in hacking, tracking, and searching for the culprit who had sent the assassin, especially knowing that he should have some results soon enough.
Did he take this long because the person involved was an assassin, making it naturally hard to track him? Or was it because the target this time was particularly elusive? Or was it simply because he wasn't used to these kinds of operations?
Christian didn't know, but he was still frustrated, never imagining that he would spend so much time sitting in the same position since morning.
Beyond his frustration and irritation, the throbbing pain from the injury on his palm refused to let him rest for even a second, flaring up every now and then as he moved his hand to type on the keyboard. It served as a relentless reminder that he needed to find the bastard who had sent the assassin.
At morning, Christian had naturally started with the mobile phone, as he had decided, only to end up finding nothing, and even though he had expected this, he still felt a twinge of disappointment.
Knowing he couldn't dwell on things beyond his control, Christian moved on to the next step, searching for any traces to track him using the identity card he had found on his body, only to discover that it was a fake.
Still, this time, he wasn't disappointed, it was pretty much obvious from the start.
And so, he just moved on to the next step. This time, he attempted to search the police database and other records using the assassin's photo, hoping to uncover some information that could help him track down the culprit.
Once again, he found himself disappointed. While he discovered that the man was a wanted criminal with many charges against him, there was nothing that could help track his clients, after all.
So, he resorted to the last and most stupid method, tracking his movements through the surveillance cameras.
It was here that he began encountering problems with his work, and it slowed down significantly. Every time he came across a gap where there were no cameras, he had to search the surrounding area to pinpoint the location, then continue searching again.
Still, while the process could be considered inefficient and stupid, it wasn't without results. He had finally found the broker, the link between the culprit and the assassin, through the cash payment that was an advance for the job.
Even though they hadn't actually met, all he needed to do was track the money, after all.
Now, he could consider himself in the final stage, as the man he was tracking this time made things much easier, with his movements being far simpler to follow.
[Master, I found the person who could have potentially given the request for the assassination.]
Suddenly hearing Iris's voice, Christian couldn't help but think that it sounded even more melodious and pleasant to his ears as the content of what she said registered in his mind.
Shouting with excitement, he couldn't help but also stand up and clench his fists, eagerly watching the windows of information open up on the screen.
As he began reading carefully, Christian's excitement quickly faded, as what he was reading made no sense.
The culprit was actually just an employee at a medium-sized, at best, company, not even the owner himself.
So, he couldn't help but voice his doubt.
"This is the culprit?"
[The one potentially giving the request, not necessarily the culprit himself.]
Hearing the answer, he couldn't help but feel a little irritated. He had raised his expectations too early and now held some grudge against Iris for giving him the information so irresponsibly.
Still, he calmed down quickly, sat back down, and began hacking into every possible account, mobile phone, device, anything related to the person in question.
If he was someone who made the request to the broker on behalf of another, he would just need to find that other person, after all.
Anyway, he would hack into every possible resource to gather information about this man, and Iris would sort through it, like always.
It took nearly another hour before Iris's voice was finally heard again.
[Master, I found conclusive evidence this time regarding the culprit. There's no need for doubt anymore.]
While Christian's eyes naturally lit up upon hearing the news, he remained more reserved this time and replied calmly,
"Okay, just display it."
Upon Christian's order, a few windows displaying various kinds of information, albeit superficial, began to appear on the screen.
This time, it was actually about another man, named Damian Slate, making Christian wonder what the connection was between him and the previous individual.
Luckily, the answer was also written. It turned out that the previous man was the Personal Assistant of Damian Slate. There were additional records as well, he was actually a spy from another organization, with various documents and evidence against his supposed boss stored in some of his accounts or devices. That's how Iris had managed to find this conclusive evidence.
Having this small curiosity fulfilled, Christian finally turned his attention to the voice record, which was the actual evidence, and clicked to play it.
"When were these pictures taken?"
After a brief period of silence in the voice recording, the voice of a middle-aged man was finally heard.
It seemed calm, but Christian, concentrating on it, could sense the barely contained anger beneath.
"It was just earlier that this happened, and I got them immediately from the person I asked to follow Mistress Eva."
Then, the sound of something breaking followed the answer.
The first man's voice, which Christian assumed was Damian's, was heard again, this time actually shouting.
"When she won't even let me touch her, she's going around playing with some boy the age of her daughter!"
While he was still shouting, and the sound of things breaking continued, likely not feeling satisfied with just the first outburst, Damian kept going, not holding back any insult toward Eva. Finally, calming down, he asked,
"What about the assassin I told you to hire? When will they be ready?"
"They still need some time, at least a few more days."
"So, should I continue with the previous arrangement? Or do you have new instructions?"
Damian stayed silent for a moment, seemingly pondering something, before finally answering,
"There's no need to obsess over those more professional ones. For now, just hire anyone and test the waters with it."
"I want it to happen today, you hear me?"
"Anyway, if this wench is serious about him, I can test her bottom line with today's attempt. If she's not, he'll just die."
"Okay, I will seek to make some results as soon as possible."
After hearing Damian's orders, the personal assistant gave his response and finally left.
Christian, expecting the voice recording to end, was surprised when it continued. Curious about what he would hear next, he didn't stop it from playing and waited patiently.
"It's just around the corner, Eva. Your family's power won't last long. Even Olivia won't be able to shield you on her own later, with all the changes happening in the world."
"You will be completely mine, sooner or later!"
Hearing Damian's final mutter before the recording ended, Christian didn't know what to feel.
Did he know he was being eavesdropped, so he kindly tried to give all kinds of information?
Like, why the fuck is he going out of his way and saying all of that in a loud voice?
Could he really know he's being listened to?
While Christian felt some doubts, he dismissed them in the end.
There were many things he still didn't know, anyway.
What was more important was sorting through the information he'd gathered from the recording.
First, someone was following Eva and keeping an eye on her. Through that, he had learned about him, especially the kiss outside, what Christian was currently thinking.
But had he done it or not, an assassin was coming in a few days, which was what Christian understood.
Secondly, and most importantly, he felt like he could conclude that while Eva has some kind of complex relationships, still, she was just seeing him. That made him feel somewhat happy amidst all this kind of shit.
However, the statement about testing Eva's bottom line was what concerned him, as it implied that Eva should have tried to help him if she were serious about him, according to that bastard, of course.
While doubts began to rise again inside him, Christian thought about the last statement he'd heard from the bastard, as it mentioned changes in the world once more.
He couldn't help but wonder if this kind of information was so cheap these days that everyone knew about it.
And what are these changes in the first place?