Chapter 1088

The moment Juniper and Shanley stepped through the reinforced doors of the Cybernetic Shadows base, every single hacker in the room shot to their feet in absolute unison.

"Ms. Payne."

"Boss."

"At ease," Shanley replied smoothly. He slipped Juniper's jacket off her shoulders, adjusted the ergonomic settings on a premium gaming chair, and murmured softly, "Have a seat."

"Thanks." Juniper didn't even bother looking behind her, trusting him completely as she sank into the plush leather.

Within seconds, a subordinate hurried over, carrying a tray loaded with premium fruits and artisanal snacks-all exactly to Juniper's specific tastes.

She blinked, glancing at the spread in surprise. The hacker quickly chimed in, "Since the boss mentioned you'd be visiting frequently, Ms. Payne, we made sure to stock up on all your favorites."

"Even this chair was specially ordered precisely to the boss's specifications."

"Is that so?" Juniper tilted her head, looking up at Shanley. The man was already looking down at her, a ridiculously smug, handsome smile plastered across his face.

His expression practically screamed: *Just admit it, you're entirely obsessed with me.*

"Well, thank you, Mr. Schwartz." Juniper offered him a playful wink.

"You're very welcome, Mrs. Schwartz." Shanley fired back a devastatingly victorious grin.

He really loved pushing his luck.

Juniper snorted softly but didn't correct him. Shifting gears, her tone turned strictly business. "Any news on my parents?"

"Nothing solid yet, unfortunately." The hacker answered with utter reverence. "Whoever wiped their files did an incredibly

igh job. We haven't been able to

recover anything actionable in our domestic sweeps."

Juniper listened in silence for a few seconds before looking up. "Have you expanded the search internationally?"

The hacker froze, realizing their massive oversight. They had poured all their

resources into scanning domestic intelligence networks. Was it possible the answers lay overseas?

"Understood, Ms. Payne," the hacker quickly nodded. "Rest assured, we will aggressively expand the investigation."

"Good." Juniper swallowed her disappointment, quickly reigning in her emotions. "What about the photo I gave you? Have you managed to restore it?"

"Mostly, yes."

The hacker immediately handed freshly printed copies to both Juniper and Shanley.

The man in the photo had strikingly handsome, sharp features and

intense, dark eyes. However, because his skull had been severely crushed and deformed in real life, even the most advanced predictive algorithms at Cybernetic Shadows couldn't guarantee one hundred percent accuracy. There would inevitably be minor discrepancies.

Juniper stared at the photograph, searching every corner of her memory, but she was certain she had never seen this man before in her life.

"We managed to restore his face, but his identity is a complete ghost,' the hacker explained patiently, it's as if his entire existence was scrubbed from the face of the earth."

Whoever had erased this man's life was a master class operator. They hadn't left a

single digital footprint.

Juniper frowned, remaining dead silent.

Every lead was a dead end. How much longer until she could finally see her parents?

"Keep digging. Notify us the second you find anything." Shanley placed the photo on the desk and enveloped Juniper's cold hand in his warm one. "You're tired. Let's head back."

Juniper nodded quietly and stood up.

It didn't matter who the man in the photo was right now. Her priority was to crush Sanctum Holdings and rip whoever was trapped inside out of their grasp.

But before she blew the Sigma Network base to hell, she really did need a good night's sleep.

"Yes, Boss." The hacker bowed respectfully, stepping aside to let them pass. Not long after they left, Jimmie Tate strolled into the underground base.

"Was Juniper just here?" Given his deep personal investment in the search for his parents, Jimmie practically lived at the base, constantly checking for updates.

"Yes, sir." A hacker immediately

stepped forward to greet him with a warm, highly respectful smile. This was their boss's future

brother in law after a

alle

demanded VIP treatment.

"Here's where we stand." The hacker gave Jimmie a full rundown of their progress. "Moving forward, we're shifting our primary focus to international databases."

Casting a wider net meant the investigation was about to become infinitely more complicated.

"Keep up the good work." Jimmie passed around the premium afternoon tea he had brought for the team.