Note 1 : Thank you Tearantas for your gift, this chapter is for you

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    The heavy armored door slid open slowly, revealing a long corridor bathed in dim lighting, where the cold air sharply contrasted with the stifling heat outside. A heavy silence reigned, broken only by the faint hum of security circuits embedded in the walls.

    The hacker, still anonymous, observed every detail with sharp attention. This wasn''t just a military base hidden underground,it was a complex designed to be invisible to the outside world. The very architecture spoke of an organization meant to function autonomously: no windows, symmetrical hallways, discreet surveillance points, and technology she had never seen before.

    Lassen walked ahead without hesitation, his relaxed steps clashing with the serious, almost oppressive atmosphere of the place. Adrian, as always, kept a calculated distance, occasionally casting furtive glances at their new guest.

    "Welcome to what I like to call... my playground."

    The hacker raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms with suspicion.

    "You talk as if you own the place."

    Adrian, walking just behind her, let out a low chuckle.

    "Let''s just say the Macro government had the excellent idea of letting Mr. X play with unlimited resources."

    She raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

    "I doubt any government would give a blank check to a civilian, even a genius."

    Lassen turned slightly towards her, his gaze gleaming with a hint of mischief.

    "That''s where you''re wrong. When you hold the keys to technology, it''s the governments who come knocking on your door."

    They stopped in front of a second security door, even more massive than the first. Two guards in dark uniforms saluted Lassen with genuine respect before activating the opening mechanisms.

    When the door slid open, the hacker felt her breath hitch for a moment.

    An immense underground chamber stretched before them, resembling an ultramodern research facility. Dozens of scientists and engineers worked behind reinforced glass, absorbed in their screens and machines. Holograms floated above several workstations, displaying complex simulations.

    The floor was made of a smooth metallic material, reflecting the glow of LED lights hanging symmetrically from the ceiling. To the left, a series of high-capacity servers hummed softly, protected by reinforced glass and advanced security protocols.

    A shift in power on a global scale.

    And she had just been pulled into the heart of the storm.

    She took a deep breath, her gaze shifting between Lassen and the imposing metallic structure behind the glass. A shiver ran down her spine,not from fear, but from pure exhilaration. This wasn''t just an audacious project. It was a silent declaration of war against the superpowers that ruled the world. Here, underground, hidden from prying eyes, something revolutionary was taking shape.

    She knew she stood at a crossroads. Refusing meant returning to her life in the shadows, always lingering at the edges of great stories. Accepting meant diving into the unknown, playing with fire alongside the most enigmatic man in Macro.

    She crossed her arms, raised an eyebrow, and with a smirk, spoke in a calm voice:

    "Alright, Mr. X. Show me how far this dream of greatness goes."

    _________

    While Lassen was cheerfully chatting with his newest recruit, far from Macro, a storm was brewing in another part of the world.

    Inside the heavily guarded chambers of the Taiwanese government, a heated debate raged on. The air was thick with tension, the kind that came when an empire saw the sands shifting beneath its feet.

    Taiwan''s greatest weapon,the microprocessor industry,was crumbling.

    For decades, Taiwan had been the undisputed king of semiconductor manufacturing. Its factories powered the world''s most advanced technologies, and its economy thrived on this monopoly.

    But then came Nova 1.

    Lassen''s AI-driven chip had shattered the industry overnight, capturing the Russian and Chinese markets with terrifying speed. Taiwan''s dominance was no longer assured. Their advantage was slipping, and with it, their last line of defense.

    For months, the government had debated how to respond, but every discussion led to the same dead end. Now, the president''s patience had worn thin.

    "This is our final warning" he said, his voice cutting through the noise "If we don''t act, Taiwan will lose everything."

    He didn''t need to elaborate. Everyone in the room knew the unspoken truth.

    If Taiwan lost its technological leverage, nothing would stop China from making its move.

    For Beijing, Taiwan was unfinished business, a missing piece in the puzzle of their empire. They had been waiting for the moment when Taiwan was at its weakest. And if Nova 1 wiped out Taiwan''s global importance, what reason would the world have to intervene when China came knocking?

    The future of an entire nation was now balancing on the edge of a knife.

    And somewhere, far from the chaos, Lassen was still smiling, unaware that his creation had just set the stage for a war.