With a clear goal in mind, Iris headed to her new computer room.
Jin Liwei didn't follow her, knowing that he wouldn't be of much help to her when it came to hacking. He met with his subordinates instead and ordered them to monitor the tabloid publisher and the paparazzo. Although he promised his baby girl earlier to leave everything to her, it wouldn't hurt to observe the situation and make sure that the mice wouldn't be able to escape from her trap.
Iris' computer room at the penthouse was already impressive, but this new computer room in the mansion was many times more so. Jin Liwei surprised her by building a computer room that was basically a giant vault made of tens of thousands of bulletproof stainless steel. It had state-of-the-art security. A fingerprint and retina scanner, voice recognition system, plus a password entered into a keypad were needed in order to unlock the door. Jin Liwei presented it to her as a computer room but it could also serve as a panic room in times of danger.
She was extremely impressed and delighted by its design and features. She could see that Jin Liwei spared no expense in building the space for her.
It took many weeks to fill up the room but it was worth it. Her new computer room now contained some of the fastest, most sophisticated and advanced computers and devices in existence so far. Her complete set-up could rival that of the best research, security and even space agencies in the world.
Now that she was wealthier, she splurged a bit more compared to when she was filling up her computer room at the penthouse before.
It was time to fully utilize her new computer room for the first time.
She hacked into the tabloid publisher. She initially only intended on digging dirt on the people who were directly involved in the tabloid story about her, but she unexpectedly stumbled upon a cesspool of materials regarding various forms of corruption and illegal activities. The discovery was unexpected but not very surprising.
She copied everything. Afterwards, she made sure to delete all copies of Little Jun's photos. There were unedited versions fully showing his adorable little face.
Just to be thorough, she deleted everything pertaining to her, Jin Chonglin and even Jin Liwei. She scowled as she read through many alleged accounts of several women and even men claiming to be lovers with her darling. However, these stories never saw the light of day. It seemed that there really were quite a number of people who feared incurring the wrath of Jin Liwei.
Her next target was the paparazzo. What she discovered creeped her out.
For the sake of snapping photos of his various celebrity targets, the man would covertly trespass on private properties, bribe hotel employees, illegally plant surveillance devices, stalk, and hide in bushes, closets, garbage bins and even sewers.
He was basically a paid stalker.
Yet, it didn't seem that he was living well. His meagre and irregular income made him hover around the urban poverty line. It was only when he snapped incriminating photos of big celebrities that he received good pay. But this was very rare. Most of the time, he survived by taking photos of starlets or non-famous celebrities.
If it were any other time, Iris would perhaps feel sorry for the man. This time, however, he made the mistake of involving her godson, Little Jun. She hardened her heart and dug all the dirt about him.
Unlike the tabloid publisher, there wasn't a lot of dirt about him. It was just that his choice of work inevitably ended a lot of celebrity careers. He wasn't entirely innocent in destroying the bright futures of these celebrities.
After erasing all the digital photos of her, Little Jun and the others, she felt that she wasn't thorough enough. What if the paparazzo and the tabloid kept physical copies? She couldn't hack into them.
Putting this concern aside for now, Iris sifted through the mountains of information she just gathered. Using her powerful computers and customized software she developed, the speed of this task was extremely fast.
After organizing everything, she sent a copy directly to the Chief of Police before releasing a public copy to the internet for everyone to see. In the public version, however, she blacked out names. Despite this, the celebrities would still be recognizable based on the other information in the exposé.
It was already enough that the hacker KeymonSTER became a wanted figure because he tried to clean her name on the web before. People, or worse, the authorities might began suspecting her if another world-famous hacker became connected to her name yet again.
When she finished everything, it was already a couple of hours past midnight. There was one more thing that she needed to do, but it was already so late.
"I wonder if he's still awake," she muttered.
She thought for only a moment before deciding to just go ahead with it. She grabbed her phone and dialed.
"Hello?" An alluring male voice answered her call.
"Big brother, it's me."
"I know." She could hear the smile in Lu Zihao's voice. "Why are you still awake? Is it about the trouble you got yourself into with those tabloid pests? Dealing with them should be easy. Don't tell me you haven't solved it yet."
"I did…well, not quite. Big Brother, I need your help."
"Heh~ Let's hear it, then."
"Oh? Blackmail material? Interesting but not surprising. Tabloids are usually filled with shady business like that," Lu Zihao said.
When she told him that she already released the incriminating evidence of the tabloid's illegal activities online and even sent a copy to the police, he was clearly displeased by her decision. She understood his aversion to the police (she had it, too), but they were living different lives now. They should be learning how to live as responsible, law-abiding citizens as much as possible. (Well, except when it came to hacking for her.)
"So will you help me, Big Brother?" she asked him. "But no need to hurt any of them, especially that paparazzo. I just need all the physical data to be destroyed."
"No problem. I'll send several teams right away. There's still a lot of time before sunrise. It will be done before the workday starts." he assured her.
She was relieved hearing his words. If her brother said that it would be done, it would certainly be done. "Thank you."
"Anything for my little sister."
After a few seconds of silence…
"I want to see you," she told him in a soft voice. "The last time we saw each other was when we celebrated New Year with the Chua family."
"I'm really busy right now, but I'll try to see you again sometime."
"Hmm…" He didn't answer right away.
"Please, Big Brother."
"Alright. I'll find time to celebrate with you."
She instantly felt happy.
"Little sister?"
"Yes?"
He paused before asking her, "If I ask you for help about something extremely difficult, would you help me?"
"Of course!" There was no hesitation in her answer. "As long as it's within my abilities, I'll help you no matter how difficult it is. You're my brother. Is there anything you need help with?"
"I…" He sighed. "No, I was just asking. Don't think about it too much. But I'm glad to hear your answer. Go to sleep now. You'll receive an update from me about the matter with the tabloid and the paparazzo when you wake up later."