Chapter 264 - 201: Surging Undercurrents

Chapter 264: Chapter 201: Surging Undercurrents

"Natasha..."

Elena looked at the cold and stunning mixed-race beauty, her tone growing solemn.

"You’re on standby for now."

"When the time is right, I will give you your mission."

Natasha nodded slightly, her voice cold.

"Understood, Lady Caroline."

Elena nodded in satisfaction and stood up.

"Alright, that’s all for today’s meeting."

"Everyone is dismissed."

Everyone rose and filed out of the conference room.

Soon, Elena was the only one left in the room.

She walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, her gaze fixed on the sky outside, which was painted gold by the setting sun.

"Chen Lin..."

She murmured softly to herself.

...

Meanwhile, in Cambridge City, Massachusetts, USA.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.

Inside a spacious and bright office.

Annie Brunt sat at her computer, completely focused on typing code.

She was dressed simply in a T-shirt and jeans, her long golden hair tied back casually in a ponytail, giving her a youthful and vibrant look.

"KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK—"

A knock sounded at the door.

Without looking up, Annie said:

"Come in."

The door opened, and a man who looked to be in his fifties walked in. He was of San descent, with dark skin and short, graying hair.

This was Annie’s advisor, Professor Moitra.

"Annie, are you busy?" Moitra’s voice was gentle.

Annie finally looked up. Seeing her advisor, she immediately broke into a smile.

"Professor Moitra! What brings you here?"

"I came to have a little chat," Moitra said with a smile, walking over to the chair opposite Annie and sitting down.

Annie blinked, a little confused.

"A chat? What about?"

Moitra pondered for a moment before speaking slowly:

"Annie, how is your recent research coming along?"

At his words, the smile on Annie’s face immediately turned a little bitter.

"To be honest, not very well."

She sighed.

"The project I’m working on right now has run into a very tricky mathematical problem."

"I’ve tried a lot of methods, but nothing has worked."

Hearing this, Moitra nodded thoughtfully.

"Is that so..."

He paused, then suddenly changed the subject.

"By the way, Annie, I remember you spoke with that Chen Lin at the mathematics conference in Huaxia. Are you still in contact with him?"

Annie was taken aback for a second, then nodded.

"I added him on WeChat later. We chat occasionally these days!"

Moitra smiled and said:

"Annie, have you ever thought about inviting Chen Lin to MIT for a short-term academic exchange?"

Hearing this, Annie’s eyes immediately lit up.

"An academic exchange? That’s a great idea!"

However, she quickly became hesitant again.

"But, Professor, shouldn’t Chen Lin be very busy right now?"

"Besides, I’ve invited him to come study and exchange at MIT before, but he didn’t seem very interested in coming to the USA..."

Moitra waved his hand dismissively.

"Annie, you inviting him yourself is different from the university inviting him. Just tell him that MIT would be very happy to have him come for an academic exchange."

Moitra’s tone became serious.

"If Chen Lin can come to MIT for an exchange, it would be a huge help for your graduation thesis."

"Didn’t you just say you’ve run into a mathematical problem?"

"With Chen Lin’s abilities, he might be able to help you solve it."

Hearing this, Annie was indeed tempted.

She bit her lip, hesitating for a moment.

"But, Professor, inviting Chen Lin to MIT would require a lot of funding, wouldn’t it?"

"Airfare, accommodation, living expenses..."

Hearing this, Moitra immediately said with a smile:

"You don’t need to worry about that."

"The department has a special fund specifically for supporting this kind of international academic exchange."

"As long as you can convince Chen Lin to come, I’ll take care of the funding. There’s even an additional scholarship."

Annie’s face lit up with excitement at his words.

"Really? That’s wonderful!"

However, she quickly calmed down again.

"But, Professor, I’m not that close with Chen Lin right now..."

"I don’t know if he would agree..."

Moitra smiled and patted Annie’s shoulder.

"Just give it a try."

"Maybe he’ll say yes, right?"

Annie thought about it, but ultimately shook her head.

"Professor, I think I’d better not."

"Chen Lin must be really busy right now. I don’t want to bother him."

"Besides..."

Annie paused, then continued:

"Just the other day, Chen Lin specifically warned me not to give his personal information to anyone."

"I think he might not like this feeling of being invited all over the place."

Hearing this, the smile on Moitra’s face stiffened slightly.

However, he quickly returned to normal.

"Alright, if you say so, then let’s forget it."

He stood up and walked to the door. Before leaving, he glanced back at Annie one more time.

"But, Annie, if you change your mind, you can come find me anytime."

"Okay, Professor," Annie said with a smile and a nod.

Professor Moitra left the office.

Annie turned her attention back to her computer screen and resumed typing code.

However, she didn’t notice that while she was absorbed in her work, the screen of the phone on her desk suddenly flickered faintly.

It was an extremely brief, almost imperceptible flicker.

Then, the phone returned to normal.

It was as if nothing had happened.

...

November 16th, Saturday afternoon.

In the USA, at a secret underground laboratory.

A man in a black hoodie, mask, and baseball cap sat in front of several screens.

His fingers flew across the keyboard as lines of code scrolled down the screens like a waterfall.

A moment later, he stopped, took off his mask, and revealed a rather young face.

He picked up a phone beside him and dialed a number.

The phone rang a few times before it was answered.

"Is it done?" a woman’s cold voice came from the other end of the line.

"It’s done." The young man smiled. "Natasha, I got everything you wanted."

"Report. What do you have?" Natasha’s voice was still cold.

The young man glanced at his computer screen and said slowly:

"I have complete control of Annie Brunt’s WeChat account."

"I’ve copied all the chat logs between her and Chen Lin."

"Also, I got Chen Lin’s WeChat ID."

"But..."

The young man paused, his tone growing serious.

"Natasha, I have to warn you about something."

"Huaxia has special network protection for the WeChat accounts of certain individuals."

"I didn’t dare make any rash moves."

"If I try to force my way in, it’ll be easily detected, and we’ll just end up alerting the target."

Natasha was silent for a moment.

"There’s no need to force it."

Her voice was laced with an icy chill.

"Having Annie’s account is enough."

"Send me the chat logs."

"Alright." The young man immediately got to work.

Before long, Natasha received an encrypted file on her phone.

She opened the file and quickly scrolled through the chat history between Annie and Chen Lin.