Within a day, Star Anise had coded a client-server firewall and a way to identify whether the program had been used. He updated the heuristics used to identify cheat programs and viruses, making it more robust. He also patched the subtle alterations the program made to the game's code. Current players would need to update their games. For new players, the additions would be seamless and part of the original download package.

Staring at the screen of the online game, Carlos was lost in thought again.

Thus far, Star Anise had extorted over a billion from him. It was possible that he would ask him for more money in the future.

He started wondering if Star Anise was either Matthew or Sheffield.

Those were the only two who braved his wrath to defy him.

But on second thought, Carlos knew his son; Matthew was unlikely to be behind this. So, that left Sheffield.

But he didn't think it was Sheffield either. He had a feeling that a young man like Sheffield couldn't have done this.

For the first time in his life, Carlos felt so helpless and troubled, and it was all because of a mysterious hacker-Star Anise.

Carlos had a hunch that if he didn't find out who Star Anise was, the hacker would be able to wrest Hilton Group away from him one day

He called Dixon on internal line and instructed, "Go and check on

Sheffield's R&D project. See if there's been any new funds, and how much he invested."

“Yes, Carlos."

Two days later, Dixon told Carlos dejectedly, "Carlos, I couldn't find a thing."

“What do you mean?" Carlos put down his pen heavily and glared at the man.

“As far as we know, Sheffield himself keeps the books, while the rest of his team are only responsible for the research and development. They don't know how much money has been spent or on what. He's hid himself too well, and the people working with him are very tight-lipped. It is almost impossible to find out anything..."

Carlos' face went livid.

“Then just keep an eye on Sheffield and his research and development center, and where they go for materials. If we know who their suppliers are, at least that's something." He didn't believe that there was no way to find out anything about Sheffield. He had a reputation to protect.

"Yes, Carlos." Dixon shook his head resignedly and left the office.

Actually, many people wanted to know more about Sheffield. And there were also just as many people who wanted to have a hold over him and ruin him.

Sheffield also figured a high-level person had been investigating him recently, so he immediately hid the important things and burned the insignificant ones, so there wouldn't be anything for anyone to find.

In the dead of night, at Hilton Group

Evelyn rubbed her temples and checked the time. It was already past 11 p.m.

She yawned as she put the documents back in the folder, and placed them on her desk. She was definitely ready for the end of the workday.

ALL of a sudden, the door to Evelyn's office was pushed open and a familiar dandiacal man stepped in shortly after

She shut her eyes and shook her head, then squinted to get a better look. She assumed that the long hours of work was causing her to hallucinate because she was staring at someone who had been gone for many days now.