Chapter 186: A USB Drive
Upon entering the room, Tom took the sofa in the outer room while Fang Xiaocao occupied the large bed inside.
After instructing Tom to stay alert, Fang Xiaocao went into the bedroom, took a shower, and lay down on the bed.
With Tom guarding the door, she felt much more at ease.
She took out her phone and messaged Hot Noodles:
“Did you hear about what happened?”
[Hot Noodles:] “Yeah, I did. All I can say is that Han Xue is ridiculously hard to kill!”
There was a teasing tone in Hot Noodles’ message.
“Tell me about it!”
“That damn woman is impossible to get rid of!”
Fang Xiaocao couldn’t help but shake her head and smile wryly at the message.
[Hot Noodles:] “So, what do you need?”
[Hot Noodles:] “I’m really busy right now!”
Seeing the message, Fang Xiaocao was curious and asked, “What are you busy with?”
[Hot Noodles:] “Tracking down the owner of the villa.”
[Hot Noodles:] “I didn’t know before, but it turns out she had her own faction. Now that I do, I need to dig deeper.”
“Oh, I see!”
“I wanted to ask you how I can escape the Blacklist‘s assassination attempts.”
Since Hot Noodles was already dealing with important matters, Fang Xiaocao decided to get straight to the point.
[Hot Noodles:] “That’s tricky.”
[Hot Noodles:] “But there’s one move you could try—divert their attention.”
[Hot Noodles:] “Have Tom spread a rumor on the black market that Han Xue’s group took something that Taotie lost years ago.”
[Hot Noodles:] “This should split Blacklist’s focus. If the lost item is important to them, they’ll divert resources to hunting Han Xue’s group instead.”
[Hot Noodles:] “Even if they still want you dead, at least the frequency of their attacks should decrease.”
Fang Xiaocao’s eyes lit up after reading Hot Noodles’ plan.
“Brilliant diversion tactic!”
She couldn’t help but marvel at Hot Noodles’ cunning.
[Hot Noodles:] “Did you just call me old?”
It seemed Hot Noodles was slightly offended.
If this plan worked, there was even a chance that Blacklist might take Han Xue out for her.
If the two factions ended up fighting each other, Blacklist might not have the manpower to keep chasing her.
“I love this idea!”
She replied enthusiastically.
Then she asked, “By the way, any updates on Zhi Qi, Su Wanqing, Yun Luoshu, or Wen Shi?”
[Hot Noodles:] “No conclusive results yet. I still can’t tell who Thousand Faces is or who hired the assassins.”
[Hot Noodles:] “I don’t even know if the person who hired them and Thousand Faces are the same person.”
Fang Xiaocao sighed.
“This is giving me a headache.”
She was growing frustrated.
Aside from Tom, she couldn’t even be sure who around her was trustworthy.
That sense of powerlessness was suffocating.
“Alright then.”
“Keep me posted if anything comes up.”
“I’m going to put this diversion plan into action now.”
Since Hot Noodles didn’t have any more useful information, Fang Xiaocao decided to end the chat.
[Hot Noodles:] “Wait! Before you do that, check what Taotie actually lost first.”
[Hot Noodles:] “There might be something useful in there.”
Fang Xiaocao smacked her forehead.
“Oh right, I forgot about that!”
“I’ll check now!”
She quickly pulled out the briefcase and opened it eagerly.
Inside, she found two pistols, six fully-loaded magazines, two black daggers, a sheet of paper filled with writing, and a USB drive.
She took a picture of the contents and sent it to Hot Noodles.
“Here’s what’s inside.”
Then, she picked up the paper to examine it.
It appeared to be a list of names.
[Hot Noodles:] “Send me a photo of that list. I’ll check each name.”
[Hot Noodles:] “As for the USB drive, don’t open it yet. Have Tom check it first—these things often have security measures, sometimes even self-destruct mechanisms.”
[Hot Noodles:] “If Tom can crack it, send me the extracted files.”
“Got it!”
Fang Xiaocao snapped a picture of the list and sent it over. Then, she grabbed the USB drive and walked out to find Tom.
“Tom, take a look at this USB drive.”
She placed it in front of him.
The moment Tom saw the drive, his expression changed, and he instinctively sat up straight.
“Where did you get this, Your Highness?”
Tom picked up the USB drive and examined it carefully.
“It was inside the briefcase.”
“Besides this, there was also a list of names and some weapons.”
Fang Xiaocao observed Tom’s reaction.
It looked like he recognized the USB drive.
“Tom, do you know what this is?”
“Of course. This is a specially-made black-market USB drive, said to be the most secure data storage device available.”
“Don’t be fooled by its small size—it’s loaded with security measures, including self-destruction features.”
Tom explained.
Fang Xiaocao was stunned.
A cold sweat broke out on her back.
Thank goodness Tom was here!
If he hadn’t returned, she would have plugged the USB drive into a computer out of curiosity.
And if it had a self-destruct function… she didn’t even want to imagine what might have happened.
“Can you crack it?”
She asked cautiously.
“It’s difficult. I can try, but I need specialized equipment.”
Tom replied.
“Alright, let’s leave it for now.”
Fang Xiaocao sighed.
“For now, focus on spreading the diversion message in the black market’s dark web.”
She then explained Hot Noodles’ plan.
“Got it. I’ll do it now!”
Tom pulled a small laptop from his bag and started logging into the black market’s dark web.
Meanwhile, Fang Xiaocao sent an update to Hot Noodles about the USB drive.
(End of Chapter 186)
